Hell Bent (Book 5 of the Hayes Files)
by griffyn612
Summary: Woody has faced a lot. Be it demons, dragons, vampires or hags, he's survived it all. But nothing has prepared him for the greatest threat yet: a dark wizard, grown mad with power and bent on forging himself an army of darkness. Now Woody must work with allies old and new to stop the wizard before he bends hell itself to his will, and brings the world to its knees.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Hell Bent

Author: Griffyn612

Rating: PG-13

Canon: Book

Spoilers: Spoilers through _Turn Coat_ , with mild reference to subject matter from _Changes._

Warnings: Contains mild violence and language

Setting: A fan story of the Dresdenverse. Most characters are new, with a few known characters interspersed.

Disclaimer: _The Dresden Files_ is copyright Jim Butcher. This story is licensed under the Creative Commons as derivative, noncommercial fiction.

Additional Credits: This story features characters derivative of Butcher's work, but created by other fans, and used with their permission. Please see the credits chapter for a list of characters and creators.

Summary: Woody has faced a lot. From demons to dragons, from blood-thirsty vampires to vengeful hags, he's survived it all. But nothing has prepared him for the greatest threat yet: a dark wizard, grown mad with power and bent on forging himself an army of darkness. Now Woody must work with allies old and new to stop the wizard before he bends hell itself to his will, and brings the world to its knees.

Chapter 1

The summer sun was just finishing its attempt at melting the Chicago skyline, an uneasy feeling in my gut had kept me on edge all day, and some idiot was laying on the doorbell as I made my way to the front of the house.

"Hold on a damn minute," I growled out as I finally made it to the first floor. Not for the first time, I wished that my firehouse still had the old fireman's pole. It had been removed during one of the previous owners' renovations, when they'd tried making the place into a business of one sort or another. After buying the place and beginning my own renovations, I'd considered reinstalling one. It'd make getting from the third floor to the first a hell of a lot easier.

As I reached the hallway leading toward the front door, the quick pitter-patter of amphibious feet announced the arrival of Sal. My 'pet' salamander darted up one of my pant legs and made his to my shoulder just as I reached the front door, his head cocked curiously as he sniffed at the air.

Noting his interest, I hesitated, my hand hovering over the handle as the uneasy feeling gave way to full-blown paranoia.

While the little guy might look like your everyday salamander, he was most assuredly not. Sal was a Salamander of legend; a fire elemental capable of burning my entire house down if he didn't get to watch National Geographic every once in a while.

We'd been friends for years, and in that time, I'd learned to recognize his moods. Unless I'd ordered delivery, Sal rarely took an interest in anyone ringing the bell. Even then, he'd usually remain out of sight.

Which made his current behavior notable and concerning.

Rather than opening the door, I brought my head down to look through the peep hole. To outward appearances, it looked as normal as Sal. Upon closer inspection, a keen eye might notice the etchings in the metal around the glass lens. Only a very few would recognize the spellwork as goblin magic that allowed you to see through veils or illusions that might be cast outside.

It wasn't perfect, mind you. Nothing could replace the true Sight of a magical practitioner. The spells themselves needed to constantly be refreshed, as each dawn wore away at the enchantment that allowed me to see the truth of what lay beyond. And there was always the possibility that a truly powerful being would come a'calling; one with enough power to surpass the capabilities of the Revealing spell.

But those were rare, at least in my experience, so I looked out with some confidence to see exactly who was doing their best to wear out the bell.

I couldn't see much at first glance. My home was smack dab in the middle of the city, which meant I was surrounded by soaring office and apartment buildings. The location was great, as long as you were fine with living just beside the L.

As I looked out, I could see that the sun was just beginning to set, the buildings north of the Loop casting long shadows along the sidewalk. A cloak the color of a dark merlot draped around the slight form standing outside. A matching hood left the face shrouded in darkness. The figure was short, but as the head tilted up, the shadows shifted just enough to reveal a familiar jawline.

Frowning, I opened the door, surprised.

"Viol—" I began, only to draw short as the head tilted higher, revealing the rest of the face beneath the hood.

It was a face I knew well. I knew the curve of those cheeks, and the gentle slope of the nose. I knew the fullness of those lips I had kissed so often. The pale stretch of neck was the same that my fingertips had played across countless times.

It was the face of Violet. The face of my girlfriend of the past few years. The face of the Greek Lampad that I had helped once upon a time, and formed a lasting bond with ever since.

But whoever this was, it was not her.

Anyone that knew Violet would know that this girl wasn't the same person. She might have her face, and from the looks of it, her form as well. But that's where the similarities ended.

Where Violet was full of light and joy, this girl was grim and grave. Even in her worst of days, when I'd seen her struggle with understanding human emotions and novelties, Violet had never felt alien. Never felt inhuman. She might have been an immortal Handmaiden of Hecate, filled with incredible power and incomprehensible purpose, but she had always been _Violet_.

This girl was not Violet.

"Woody Hayes?" the girl asked in a voice that was all too familiar, and yet somehow wrong. It was too crisp, too formal. And there was a subtle anger in it that was completely unlike the woman I knew.

Sanguine eyes stared into mine, lacking any recognition. The girl's brow and carmine eyebrows were furrowed around them. It gave that usually soft and pleasant face a decidedly darker expression.

"Who are you?" I asked, my voice hard as I looked upon my girlfriend's dopple-ganger.

"I am here for your services," she said in reply. Her voice chilled me. It was so much like Violet's own, but so unlike her as well. As she spoke, her head nodded in a slight, terse bow. A luscious lock of carmine hair fell loose, one that she deftly tucked behind an ear as she lowered her hood.

"I don't know what you're trying to pull, but it's not going to work," I growled out, my temper flaring at the presumption of this creature. A creature that dared take on the appearance of the girl I loved.

"You will assist me in this matter," the girl replied sharply, in that foreign voice I knew so well. Her eyes narrowed even further, and a scarlet light sparked in her sanguine eyes.

"Like hell," I snapped, ready to slam the door in her face.

"You _must_ ," the girl countered with her furious frown. "You owe a debt, and I am here to claim it."

As much as I wanted to leave her standing on the sidewalk, I couldn't ignore those words. In human society, saying such a thing was practically meaningless. Plenty of people could claim a debt was owed, but it didn't mean you had to do anything.

In the supernatural world, the most important currency was debt. And if you reneged on a favor owed, no matter how small, it could cost you everything.

It was my turn to frown darkly as I pulled the door open again. "I don't owe you anything. I don't even know who you are."

"It is not my debt that I claim," she replied, her own tone remaining terse. "I am here on behalf of my… sister." The girl hesitated over the last word.

"Your…" I started, before trailing off. My anger at her appearance began to shift into confusion.

"You know her as Violet," the girl replied softly.

I stared at the unfamiliar set to a familiar face as my mind quickly worked at figuring out just what was going on.

I'd known Violet for years, and she'd never said anything about having a sister. Especially a twin sister. Which is what this girl would have to be, to look so much like my girlfriend. But at the end of the day, that didn't mean much. I knew practically nothing about Violet or her life, including her true name.

We'd met when I'd crossed paths with the unfortunate man that had come into possession of the Lampad's torch. The purple fires of her misplaced lantern had driven him mad, and he'd set out to burn the city down. I'd managed to stop him, and in the process, recovered the bone-white torch that the Lampad had lost ages ago.

I'd returned it to her, and that had begun our journey together. She'd felt indebted to me, and had repaid that debt with the bone-white ring I wore on my right middle finger. The ring was a piece of the very torch I had recovered. It granted me protection from fire and flame, and any harm that stemmed from either.

But as far as I knew, that had squared our debt. If anything, she had owed me.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I told the girl with sanguine eyes.

"My sister lent you her power," she explained, impatience creeping into her voice as she glanced toward the distant sunset. "Now you must aide us in return."

"Are you talking about this?" I asked, holding up the hand with the ring on it. "Because it was given in repayment of a debt she owed _me_."

"No," the girl said sharply. "I speak of the debt you incurred several years ago. In the Providence of Lakes."

"The Providence—" I began, only to realize what she was talking about. "You mean my home town? Lake Providence, Michigan?"

"Yes," the girl replied.

Although, if she was telling the truth, I couldn't think of her as a girl. Like Violet, she looked to be in her early twenties, but had most likely spent centuries — if not millennia — walking the surface of the planet.

"I don't recall any debt," I replied, although something began gnawing at the back of my mind. I glanced just to make sure Sal wasn't literally taking a chunk out of my head, but saw that he was still on my shoulder, paying rapt attention to the girl. At least he wasn't acting like the being in front of us was any kind of threat.

"She lent you her power," the girl with carmine hair explained. "In your fight with the Demon Summoner."

As she said it, my mind went back to that night in Lake Providence. A kid had gotten hold of an honest-to-God book of magic, and used it to summon up a few demons. He'd screwed up the initial summoning, but by the end of things, he'd figured out how to use them to enact his will.

He'd sent several after me and a few residents of the town, including my mother. Violet had arrived at dusk, and aided me in defending the children I'd sworn to protect. When things had started falling apart, she'd been forced to act. Only the fires from her torch had driven away one of the demons before it could harm its intended victims.

She'd made a comment the next night, about how her actions might be questioned by others. Something about her offensive acts not being excusable.

She hadn't said anything about it since. I figured we'd gotten away with whatever she had been worried about.

Apparently I was wrong.

"So…" I said, drawing the word out as I considered the ramifications. "You're saying I owe Violet for helping me that night."

"Yes."

"And you're claiming that debt?" I asked, my tone doubtful.

"On her behalf," the girl replied.

"Can you do that?"

The girl's eyes narrowed, and her right arm lifted as she twisted her wrist. There was a flash of light, and suddenly her palm wasn't empty.

There, held tightly in her grasp, was the bone-white torch of a Lampad.

Crimson and cardinal flames roared from the top, swirling angrily, matching the light in the Lampad's eyes. The heat rolled over me, and even Sal shrunk back from the furious fire.

"Okay, okay," I said, holding my hands up and patting the air. "Let's assume you can do that."

After a moment, the Lampad's anger abated, as did the flames. With another flick of her wrist, the torch disappeared, and the light shining in her eyes faded back to the sanguine shades I'd seen before.

"Okay," I repeated, my own pulse not settling as quickly as her temper had. "What is it you need from me?"

"Someone has taken a Hound," she said, casting another look to the west, toward the setting sun. Her head turned back to me. "You must retrieve it, and kill he that dared."

"Okay. A hound," I said, nodding through my ignorance. "Is this your pet? Someone stole your dog?"

" _Anóitos_ ," the Lampad muttered softly, a growl in her voice. Her eyes bore holes into mine. "Not a pet. A Hound of Hades."

I opened my mouth to reply.

And then I left it open, as I tried to process what she'd said.

I closed it, and then opened it again, only to forget what I was going to say.

Her glare finally brought me back on track. "Okay. Someone took a hellhound," I said in a reasonably understanding tone. Because apparently those were real?

"No," she grumbled, her eyes glinting sharply. "Neither hell nor Hel have anything to do with this. The mágos has taken a Hound of Hades."

"Hades," I repeated, sensing that there was an important distinction there. Not that I knew what it was. Hades was hell, after all.

Or was it?

"Um, I'm not sure what good I'm going to do you," I told her as her glare grew more impatient. "I'm an arson investigator that dabbles with magic on the side. I'm not sure how to find your do— er, Hound."

"I do not need you to find it," the Lampad growled. "The Hound is on Chios, with the mágos that took it. You must retrieve it for me, and kill the mágos."

"Mágos?" I asked, my tone growing more cautious.

"Sorcerer," the Lampad explained. "A wizard."

A chill ran down my spine. "What kind of sorcerer are we talking? Because I'm not all that powerful." In all honesty, I had no magical talent myself. Other than a quick rate of recovery, I had nothing to call on personally. Only magical items crafted by others had seen me get through some tight spots. "This wizard. Is he like the demon summoner?"

"No," the Lampad said softly. "He is much worse."

" _How_ much worse?" I asked, a sinking feeling in my gut.

"He is of the White Council."

And that would be the sound of the floor dropping out from beneath me.

"Sorry, that's way out of my league," I told her with my hands raised again, this time in defeat. "I've done some things, faced some things. But nothing in the league of a full fledged wizard of the White Council."

"You must," the girl insisted, her eyes hardening. "You are in debt. This _must_ be done."

"Are you listening?" I asked, my temper returning. "There's nothing I can _do_ against a _wizard_."

"You have resources. You have allies," she explained, as if I had some secret stash of Super Friends I could ring up to help me take on a dark wizard.

"Yeah," I admitted, letting just a hint of sarcasm through. "One of which is right here," I said, pointing a thumb at Sal. "But I don't have anyone else to call on right now."

Which was unfortunately the truth. The next best thing to an ally would be my roommate, who happened to be a goblin with a unique lifestyle. Qilluhrang had helped me numerous times in the past, claiming that it was all part of our arrangement of him living in — or, rather, under — my home.

But Q was away, as he often was during stretches of the summer. He was supposedly delivering something to a client across the country. The goblin was unique among his kind, creating and selling crafted items rather than spending all his time hunting and killing.

He still did the hunting and killing, and quite well. But he did it a lot less than his goblin brethren.

The only other person I could call on that might be able to help was Violet herself. She came in and out of my life without any real frequency, but she tended to show up when I needed her. But if she'd sold my debt to her sister, then she clearly wasn't in a position to help.

"I'm sorry," I said with a final shake of my head. "There's nothing I can do."

"You refuse to honor your debt?" the Lampad asked, her tone dangerous. Those sanguine eyes glinted darkly as her body straightened. Sal tensed on my shoulder, and suddenly I was quite aware of the fact that I was facing off against a Lampad of Greek legend; a Handmaiden of Hecate, equal in power to Violet, singularly the most powerful being I'd ever met.

"No, I'm not," I said quickly. "But there's nothing I can _do_. Look, where's Violet? She'll explain."

"She is unavailable," the Lampad said, her eyes shifting to the west, to the setting sun.

I sighed. "Look, I don't know how to explain it any better. This is way above my pay grade. Why can't you retrieve it?" At that, she turned back to me.

"One of my sisters already attempted to retrieve the Hound," the Lampad said softly. She cast her eyes down. "The dark magics the mágos used to enslave the Hound were turned against her."

"Damn," I said breathlessly. "You mean—"

My words died in my throat, as I realized _exactly_ what she meant.

"Where is Violet?" I asked, my voice hushed as the uneasy feeling in my gut returned full-force.

"The task of retrieving the Hound was given to one of my sisters," the Lampad said. She wouldn't meet my eyes. "She failed, and is now a slave to the one she was sent against. Others would only meet the same fate."

"Where is Violet?" I repeated.

"Chios."

"Chios," I repeated numbly. The Lampad nodded. "Where the Hound is."

"Violet is the one," the Lampad said. She finally raised her eyes to me, and I saw pain and rage within them. "The mágos has taken my sister, and the Hound. He has enslaved them." She hesitated.

"And with them, he holds the power over life and death."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Almost thirty minutes later, a silver Ducati Diavel coasted into my garage. As soon as it was in, I pulled the chain that lowered the door. The biker rolled to a stop beside my own Harley and killed the engine.

The bike wasn't one of the classic Diavel's from the first run back in the eighties. It was one of the newer models from their new relaunch, a beast of a machine that could leave my own WLA in the dust.

Of course, the bike wouldn't be for sale until the fall. But waiting until something was publicly available wasn't in the nature of the Raith family. That was something I'd learned early on.

I turned, and eyed the girl atop the cruiser. She was covered in form fitting leather from the neck down that left little to the imagination. The jacket and pants were riding leather with armor built in. Knowing the girl and her family, it wouldn't be just for road rash.

There was a large bag strapped across her back, larger than any sane biker would wear at the high speeds she must have taken to get there so quickly. It would take an unnatural sense of balance just to stay upright; the type of balance that came natural to a vampire of the White Court.

As I watched, the girl shrugged off her white helmet, and took in the Lampad standing in the corner.

"Damn," Anya Raith said, her gray eyes shifting toward me as she arched a dark and delicate eyebrow at me. "She really is the spitting image of Violet."

"Anya, meet Rose," I said, nodding toward the Lampad.

"Rose?" the White Court Vampire asked as she turned back to the Lampad.

"Seemed appropriate."

I'd originally named Violet not after the flower, but after the flames of her torch. Her hair and eyes were similar shades of purple, and she seemed to favor the color. The name seemed fitting.

She _had_ presented me with a crystal flower to symbolize the debt she owed me, but I hadn't realized at the time that it was, in fact, a violet. When I learned that the flower was actually her favorite, the name took on a deeper meaning.

Her sister, with her lush carmine hair and sharp sanguine eyes, would make a good Rose.

That, and in the short time I'd known her, she'd proven herself to be quite thorny.

The Lampad looked between us, a slight frown creasing her forehead. " _This_ is who you were waiting for?"

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Anya snapped, her eyes sparking with silver as she glared at the Lampad.

"Anya," I said in warning, before turning back to the Lampad. "She's a friend of mine and Violet's. She's willing to help your sister, and she's more than capable of pulling her weight in a fight."

"Do you think she will make a difference against a mágos?" the Lampad asked, clearly not impressed.

"Look, I told you this is out of our league," I growled, forgetting my own caution. "We'll do the best we can. If you don't like it, if you don't think we can handle it, then by all means, find us some help."

I'd done my best to do just that in the short time I'd had. After leaving a voicemail on Q's cell, I'd called Anya and given her a quick breakdown of the situation. To my surprise, the lust vampire was willing to face a dark wizard a lot faster than I had been. She'd agreed to help in the blink of an eye, and set out for my place as soon as she could gather some supplies.

After that, I'd made what calls I could. I'd left a message for Ms. Gard at Monoc Securities, and another with a Fear Dearg I knew named Bailey. There were several practitioners in town that I'd met over the years that I considered calling, but none of them would be of much help against a full fledged wizard.

I'd even broken down and tried calling the resident Wizard of Chicago. The only number I had for him was his work number (he's in the phone book), but something was wrong with his answering machine. It kept looping in the recorded greeting rather than letting me leave a message. I'd left word with a mutual acquaintance instead, but Detective Murphy hadn't called me back yet.

The rest of my time had been spent preparing for the trip. I had my own duffel bag of supplies in the corner, filled to the seams with every weapon and tool I could find. I'd donned my own black leathers, all of which were made of Balaur skin that had been enchanted by armor smiths over at Monoc. The jacket, pants, boots and gloves were all fire proof, and had stopped everything else they'd come into contact with over the years. They looked off-the-rack thanks to the efforts of the Monoc smiths, but were a thousand times more durable. Even blades — and theoretically, bullets — should be no match for the leather.

Despite our armament, the Lampad eyed Anya and I doubtfully, clearly unimpressed, nor confident in our abilities. But as they say, beggars can't be choosers. After a moment, she gave a final nod, and gestured for us to join her.

I retrieved my bag, and then joined Anya at the Lampad's side. The punky vampire shot me a reassuring wink, the silver of one eye flashing along with the curling argent tattoo along the right side of her face. I knew from experience that the tattoo continued well past the collar of her jacket, winding its way across her body and down her arms and legs.

She'd let her hair grow out a bit since I'd first met her over a year prior. Previously, her dark locks had been nothing more than stubble across her scalp. Now she had what might be called a messy boy cut, taking inspiration from that chick bounty hunter movie that'd come out a few years prior.

"Keep hold of the torch until we are in the Way," the Lampad said, even as she turned her wrist to bring said torch back from wherever it went. It was like watching reality twist around her hand, revealing what was always there, even when it wasn't.

I reached out tentatively, having had some experience with a Lampad torch in the past. The thing had driven me nearly mad, and only the timely intervention of an ally had prevented me from giving in to the crazed flames.

Anya had no such worries, and touched it without a second thought.

Seeing her not burst in maniacal laughter was reassuring. I took hold of the torch as well, only flinching somewhat as I did. After a moment, I gave a soft sigh of relief.

 ** _Fo̱tísei to drómo._**

My body tensed, and I looked to Rose in alarm. She seemed to be surprised as well.

"Is that…? Are we okay?" I asked somewhat urgently. The lid of the small snakewood box in my jacket's breast pocket popped open, and Sal looked out with interest.

"It is fine," the Lampad said softly, her curious look not on me but on her torch.

"What?" Anya asked, looking between the two of us. "What did I miss?"

"You didn't hear that?" I asked.

"Hear what?"

 ** _Fo̱tísei to drómo._**

I let go of the torch and wiped my hand on my pants leg. Sal looked up at me, his little head tilted in what I took to be confusion. I just shook my head and puffed a heavy breath through my pursed lips as I tried to calm down.

"It is fine, Woody Hayes," Rose said, frowning at me.

"Yeah, I don't think so," I said quickly. "The last time I touched one of those things and it started saying that, it nearly drove me insane."

Her sanguine eyes fell to my right hand. It was bare save for the jewelry I wore. "It most likely sensed the power of Violet's torch through your ring."

I glanced at the bone-white band on my right hand. I'd touched that same hand to the torch. Maybe she was right.

"We must go," the Lampad insisted. "Touch the torch, and do not let go until we are in the Way."

Rather than trying for a repeat performance, I reached out with my left hand and held the shaft of the slim lantern. Nothing sounded in my head.

"Let us go," Rose said. Before either of us couple reply, the world shifted with a flicker of red light. My mind had an impression of flame turning around us, even though there was none, save for the fire burning atop the torch.

It was like being in a carmine kaleidescope. The world broke into shards of light, each spinning around each other in an alien and yet familiar fashion, before settling back into place. My head spun, unable to comprehend what I'd seen.

Whatever it was, it was fast. And when it was over, we were no longer in my garage.

I blinked as I looked around. Despite my trepidation at touching the torch, I had been excited to get my first glimpse of the Never-never. I'd heard fantastic things about it, and knew that worlds beyond imagination existed parallel to our own.

After a moment, I found myself to be… sorely disappointed.

The four of us were in a tunnel. That much I could make out. The round passage was about seven feet wide and tall, not leaving much room to spare. The edges were roughly hewn, as if some giant earthworm had burrowed through the ground. The coral light from the torch extended out a short distance, revealing the odd stretch of exposed root or partially submerged rock in the turf.

Beyond the furthest reach of the light was only darkness.

"You may let go of the torch," Rose said crisply, as if irritated that the two of us had obeyed her instructions so thoroughly.

Anya and I both released it at the same time, timidly looking around the narrow passage. Even Sal's head was on a swivel as he looked at our surroundings with a mild curiously. My attention was on the edge of the light, where it appeared that the tunnel simply disappeared into nothingness.

It was unnatural. Light defuses over space. With the flames flickering atop the torch, we should have been able to see a good thirty feet of tunnel at least, with the rest fading into the distance.

Instead, the light shone half that, before ending in a wall of black.

"Stay in the light," Rose said simply, before starting down the path.

Anya and I quickly moved with her, an innate fear of the dark urging me forward.

"Why is the light like that?" I asked, even as Anya took out her cell phone. I almost made a crack about trying to find cell service in the Never-never, but the pretty girl simply activated the flashlight app on the phone and shone it toward the darkness trailing behind us.

The light from the phone fared no better than the torchlight.

"Stay in the light," Rose repeated as Anya lagged dangerously behind. "It will light the way."

 ** _Fo̱tísei to drómo._**

I tensed, looking quickly to the lantern that I was definitely not touching.

Rose arched an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Unaware of the voice that was suddenly making a home for itself in my head, Anya stepped closer, and together we made our way through the tunnel.

* * *

With my excitement over seeing the Never-never thoroughly quenched, and nothing but an endless subterranean tunnel to look at, my mind quickly returned to dwelling on Violet.

"Tell me what we're getting ourselves into," I asked as the tunnel turned toward the left before straightening out again. I needed to concentrate on something other than my worry.

"Two days ago, the mágos was attacked by his own people," Rose explained as the tunnel began a subtle descent. "He was gravely injured, but survived the encounter through unnatural means."

"What happened to the others?" Anya asked as she skipped forward again. That trailing darkness was enough to make anyone self conscious of being left behind.

"One of them died," the Lampad said, her tone dispassionate. "The mágos fled from the rest."

"So where does your Hound come into it?"

"The mágos was near death," Rose said curtly. "The Hound was sent to retrieve his soul, to carry him to his Judgment."

"I take it that's when things took a turn?"

"Indeed," Rose confirmed. "Rather than taking the mágos' soul, the Hound was bent to his will."

"What does that mean?" Anya asked as the tunnel began to twist around to the right. At some point we had started ascending again.

"The Hound serves him, rather than fulfilling its purpose," Rose stated bluntly, her tone indicating as much should be obvious. Anya stiffened at the prim tone, but the Lampad continued. "The mágos has begun to use the Hound to enslave others to his will."

"How?" I asked, alarmed.

"I do not know," Rose replied softly, sounding for the first time unsure of herself. "No mortal should have such power over a servant of Hades."

I wasn't sure if she was referring to a place or a person when she said that. It might have been both, which made me wonder about the magnitude of the magical world I barely understood.

"And what about Violet?" I asked, my pulse quickening as I did. The nervous feeling I'd had all day continued to churn in my stomach. I didn't recall feeling anything the night before, but I'd made it an early night. Had the link between Violet and I been sharing something of her situation?

"Yesterday, the mágos faced off against those that came for him," Rose said, ignoring my question. "He injured one, and took another two with him, bending them to his will as he did the Hound."

"Wait, wait," I said, drawing us to a halt. Rose turned to look at me, impatience flashing across her face. "Are you telling me that he's got two other wizards with him now, along with the Hound and Violet?"

"Yes," she said irritably. She frowned. "Were you not listening?"

"You said we were going up against a wizard," I replied. "Not three."

"One. Three. It does not matter," Rose argued. "The Hound must be recovered."

I pinched my nose, and wondered if the torches made the Lampads a little insane as well. "Freakin' nymph can't count," I muttered under my breath.

"There are others on the island that may be able to assist you," Rose said as she resumed walking. As she did, the light shifted, and I looked to where Anya flinched away from the darkness.

While we'd been stopped, the punky vampire had approached the edge of the light. When we resumed walking, she held something out to me. I took it, and saw that it was a small slim knife she'd pulled out of somewhere. As tight as her outfit was, I wasn't sure I wanted to know where.

Only, when I looked at the blade, I could see where at least an inch was missing. The tip had been sheered off, leaving behind a smooth stub. I looked at it, and then to her. She nodded toward the darkness, her eyes wide.

The darkness had cut the steel.

Or worse, the steel had simply ceased to exist beyond the light.

The two of us stepped a little closer to Rose, crowding around the middle of the path.

"So, uh," I said, trying to regain my thoughts. "You were finally getting around to telling us about Violet."

"Last night, the mágos began using the Hound to take control of others," Rose said. If she noticed our exchange, or the state of the blade, she didn't let it show. "He bound the two wizards to his will, enthralling them. Such a thing is a blasphemy that cannot be allowed.

"Violet was sent to retrieve the Hound," she continued, as we suddenly came to a fork in the path. Rose turned down one tunnel, and Anya and I quickly followed.

"And you said she was enslaved, just like the Hound," I finished.

"Yes," Rose said tersely, as if the very idea was offensive. Which it probably was. If she thought bending a Hound against its will was bad, what would she think of that happening to one of her sisters?

"After he bound Violet, his profanities grew," she said. "They have worked through the night, drawing more to their side."

"Where is Chios, exactly?" I asked.

"Greece," Anya said, surprising me. At my glance, she gave a shrug. "The family has as history in the Mediterranean, and holdings throughout the region."

"It is an island to the far east," Rose explained further. "It lies close to the land you call Turkey. And it is the home of the mágos."

Great. So, to recap, the powerless mortal and still-in-her-training-wheels vampire were going up against three wizards, a Lampad, a Hound, and whoever else they'd enthralled, all in the bad guy's home town.

What could possibly go wrong?

"Wait," I said, thinking back. "You said something about others that might be able to help?"

"The White Council was hunting the mágos," Rose explained as we came across another crossroads, this time turning right. "When the first team failed, a second was dispatched."

"Why didn't you say so?" I asked, perplexed. "For that matter, why are you bothering with us?"

"We cannot count on the mági succeeding where they have already failed," Rose said darkly. "And we cannot risk sending anyone else that might be taken. This mágos has done the impossible; were he to gain more of us to his service, he may quickly grow unstoppable."

That was a terrifying thought. A Lampad, easily the most powerful being I'd ever met, in the hands of a dark wizard. And with an army of them…

I shivered, and found myself pulling closer to the torch. Not to stay clear of the dark, but ward off the chill that had set me shivering.

"How much farther?" I asked, feeling as if the walls were growing tighter around us.

"Too far," Rose said. "We have much further to travel."

 ** _Fo̱tísei to drómo._**

The Lampad's pace quickened, and the vampire and I did our best to keep up.

* * *

The never-ending tunnels continued on, the path revealing itself only as the torch light passed through, to then disappear once more into the inky black.

The path rose and fell, twisting and turning as we made our way through the Never-never. My mind quickly grew bored by the unchanging surroundings, right up until the wall on the right dropped away. The light revealed the barest edge of what might have been a cavern, had we been able to see more than just a few feet out. The drop looked sheer, and when combined with the relentless dark that surrounded our journey, it left me wondering if a step in the wrong direction might result in a fall that was as endless as the night.

But then I remembered the knife blade, and realized it would most likely be the shortest sort of fall.

Despite the danger, I eventually became numb to it. Perhaps it was the constant threat of imminent death if I were to stumble and fall behind, or perhaps it was the worry about Violet that was gnawing away at my stomach. Either way, I found myself wondering why the Lampad hadn't let us bring the motorcycles. Surely we could have proceeded faster with them. And better yet, I wouldn't be exhausted by the time we arrived.

With Anya's help, I calculated that our arrival would most likely be in the new day in Greece. The sun had just set as we left Chicago, and with the difference in time zones, we were going to lose half a day.

But despite my concerns, Rose assured us that we would arrive before the sun rose. When I'd asked how that was possible, given how long we'd been walking, she'd simply shrugged.

"Time is not the same everywhere," she'd said cryptically, before leading us down another tunnel.

Hours passed, which might have been days, before Rose came to an abrupt halt.

I bumped into her, having been following entirely too closely. Anya was more graceful, pivoting around the torch to look at the Lampad, who was staring off at sights unseen.

"We are here," she announced, finally turning back to us.

"Where is here, exactly?" I asked, shifting the bag that I carried. Anya had offered to carry it for me, her superior strength easily managing her own bag. I'd declined, the more chauvinistic part of my brain refusing to acknowledge that I needed the help.

Thankfully, aches and pains were fleeting for me. A little rest would go a long way to restoring me back to full strength.

"We are approximately one hundred yards from my sister and the mágos," Rose said with confidence.

"Right then," I said, dropping the duffel bag to pull out some of the items I'd prefer having ready. "I take it he's up to no good? Doing dark wizard things? Licking other people's cupcakes and the like?" I asked as I donned my leather gloves.

Rose looked off into the distance again. When she turned back, her gaze was as flat as her words. "They are preparing to raise the dead."

"Oh," I said, staring at her. "That's much worse."

"I don't know," Anya said, trying to sound unconcerned as she strapped gun holsters to each thigh. "Licking cupcakes will get you a death sentence in some places."

"We should have brought cupcakes," I replied as I slid a leather sheath across my back. A two foot steel rod was slung inside it, with the rounded pommel sticking out the top. "Maybe we could bribe him? Let the Lampad and the Hound go for a dozen cakes of deliciousness?"

"Two dozen at least," Anya scoffed, shooting me a look.

Rose gave us an incredulous look. "Do you not appreciate how dire these circumstances are?"

"Sure we do," I told her.

"It's just, you know," Anya said with a lopsided grin. " _Cupcakes_."

Truth be told, I was terrified. So was Anya. Neither of us had ever fought a real wizard before, but we'd heard about them. Demigods, slinging lightning and fire with their bare hands, leaving death and destruction lying in their wake as they waded through the supernatural world without fear.

And those were the _good_ ones.

I had little doubt that I'd be dead in a matter of minutes. Anya might fare better than me. While being a White Court Vampire certainly had its downsides, it gave her a fighting chance. With her speed, strength, agility, and reflexes, she might survive the first minute of combat against a wizard.

Me? I gave myself good odds at fifteen seconds. Maybe twenty if I could get the jump on them.

But Violet was in trouble. And with as much as the three of us had been through in the last year, Anya and I would do whatever was necessary to try and help her.

I cast a glance at the White Court vampire I called my friend, and she shot me a nervous smile before nodding.

I slipped my half helmet over my head, leaving the face-mask dangling to one side. After that, I slid my old glasses on, the enchanted lenses and frame offering me what protection they could.

"Alright," I said, "what are we facing?"

"The mágos is there," Rose said, her eyes distant. "As is my sister, and the Hound." Her forehead crinkled in thought. "There is another. One of the other mági."

"Good guy or bad guy?" I asked as I checked over my armament. The leather bracelet on my right wrist was fully loaded with crystal-capped snaps; dark beaded bracelets encircled both wrists. My pockets were heavy with three pool-ball sized spheres, and a shorter rod jutted out from one. Sheaths on my thighs, calves, and boots carried an assortment of blades, and a pair of under-arm holsters sported two guns: my old Beretta Px4 Storm, as well as its new twin I'd picked up in the last few months. Spare magazines were placed in slots on the holsters and on my belt.

"It is one of those he has taken to his side," Rose warned. "But the others I spoke of are not far. They may be of some assistance."

"Right," I said as I picked up my nearly empty bag. "I take it you'll remain close?"

"Yes," she said with a slight nod. "But when the sun rises, I will be unable to reach you."

Some part of me had know that could be the case. In the years I'd known Violet, she'd only ever come to me at night, or just as dusk had begun. She'd never stayed beyond the sunrise, nor had I seen her in the light of day.

"Well, I guess if we survive, we'll just make our way to the nearest town, and hang out until nightfall."

"Wish I spoke Greek," Anya muttered. "Might help us find some cupcakes after all this is over."

Rose blinked at her, and then turned to me. "I will gift you with that knowledge."

"Uh, what?" I asked, but rather than replying, Rose held her free hand aloft.

A spark of crimson fire leapt from her right index finger, the flickering hues playing off her maroon-colored fingernails. She slowly stretched her hand out to me, until the fire was flickering in front of my face.

I wasn't too worried about being burned. The bone-white ring I wore would prevent any harm coming from flame. Or, at least, it normally would. It had protected me from phoenix fire and dragon flames, but would it protect me from the flames of another Lampad?

Before I could dwell on it, Rose pushed her finger to my lips. "Breath."

I took a breath, and the fire filled my lungs, rolling through me in an instant. I felt a flash of heat, though there was no pain, and then it was gone.

"What did that do?" I asked as the Lampad turned to Anya, extending her hand again. Another swirl of flame danced atop her finger, and the vampire was staring at it as if it might bite her.

"It is knowledge," Rose explained. "The language should not be an issue."

"Oh," I said, watching Anya as she inhaled the fire. She flinched as it passed between her lips, and coughed for a brief moment. Sal poked his head out from the box he resided in, looking excitedly at the Lampad. But despite his hopeful trill, she didn't offer anything to him.

"Alright," I said as Anya blinked away whatever she felt after the experience. "I guess we're ready."

"You have perhaps half an hour before dawn," Rose said, her gaze elsewhere. "Should you recover my sister and the Hound in that time, I will come for you. If not, then they and I will be gone until dusk. I will return to you then."

"Let's hope we'll see you shortly." Anya and I both took hold the of the torch again.

The Lampad nodded, although she didn't look hopeful. "I wish you luck. May Hades guide you, and Hecate bless you in your endeavor."

 ** _Light the Way._**

The voice sounded in my head as the invisible fires swirled around us, and then the subterranean tunnel broke into millions of pieces of light.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When the world finished shifting, the tunnel was gone, as was Rose. I found myself standing with Anya in a dense forest, the canopy overhead blocking whatever light the stars and distant sunrise might offer.

" _Calya_ ," I whispered as I touched the bridge of my glasses.

With the command, the spell in the lenses ignited, brightening my sight as the black surrounding us took on a green hue. The night vision spell helped reveal some details from among the shadows, and left Anya shining in her all-white get-up.

The vampire gave me a soft smile and a chrome wink, reminding me that she needed no such trick to see in the dark.

We quickly discarded our bags and checked over our weapons one last time. Anya had her two Desert Eagles still holstered, each loaded with a hundred round drum. More traditional nine-round magazines were tucked into the holsters on her thighs as spares. I'd glanced in her bag back in the tunnel, and had seen two more of the rounded drums within.

I hoped we wouldn't need all of that, but it was better to have than want.

Her short straight swords were both sheathed across her back, and a variety of other blades were tucked about her person. She'd brought her motorcycle helmet, and donned that rather than going bare-headed.

"Which way?" I whispered as she snapped the wind visor up.

"Can't you mojo it?" she replied softly, the quirk to her lips barely visible beneath the padding of her helmet.

Truth be told, I probably could. I had the bone-white ring, which I could use in a tracking spell to locate the torch it had originated from. But setting up the spell would take time, which we were short on.

Besides, I wasn't talking to her.

Sal leapt from the front pocket of my coat, taking in power from all around us as he dropped toward the turf. The air seemed to shimmer around him as he grew. By the time he hit the ground, he was the size of a doberman, albeit it a squat one with flames licking here and there along its yellow and orange skin.

The fire elemental lifted his head, sniffing at the air. He wasn't great with scents, but fire and flame were his thing. He could track a cigarette across the city if he had the scent of it. And he'd had plenty of occasions to learn the scent of Violet's torchlight.

After a moment, the salamander pointed with his triangular head, and the three of us set off. The other two moved all but silently, and I did my best not to sound like a bulldozer cutting through the woods.

As we went, Anya led us in a wide loop, rather than approaching the scent directly. When I cocked my head quizzically, she'd simply put a finger to the side of her nose. I reasoned that she wanted to get upwind, so we circled around to approach our targets unawares.

It took us a few precious minutes, but eventually we reached the edge of a clearing, where we looked out over a simple graveyard.

The sky overhead was dark with heavy cloud cover. Here and there I could spot the last smattering of stars peeking through before the day began. To the east, a very faint light could be seen, the coming dawn threatening to overtake the hills and mountains between us.

A eerie mist had settled across the graveyard, a thick purple fog that was laced through with tendrils of green smoke. The supernatural vapors spread diffusely between the headstones and crosses. They rolled over each stone, slowly curling up and around before spreading further. The light breeze seemed to have no effect on its journey; it moved over the graves as if it had a purpose of its own.

It very likely did.

A short distance away, perhaps thirty yards or so, a trio of figures stood at the center of the graveyard. The mist was thickest around them, with the green tendrils swirling gently around the central figure, while the purple fog slowly rolled down from the torch the shortest one bore in her right hand. She was facing away from me, but there was no mistaking her.

It was Violet, holding her Lampad torch aloft in the dark.

Her mulberry tresses hung loosely around her head. She was clad in the robe she'd worn the first time I'd seen her, with the hood hanging limply across her back. In our time together, she'd updated her fashion sense, joining those of us in the twenty-first century. But it seemed that she was back to her ancient ways, with her figure shrouded in the dark cloth.

My breath caught at the sight of her, and I barely stopped myself from stepping into the clearing. But the soft chant from the central figure was enough to give me chills, and reason prevailed.

Instead, I focused on the torch, and the odd, heavy smoke emanating from the flames atop it. I'd never seen Violet do anything like it, but then, I had very little understanding of her abilities. The torch burned low, emitting more purple haze than light. The former spilled around her uplifted arm like a translucent waterfall, falling slowly to her feet, where it then billowed out and across the ground.

My heart thundered in my chest at the sight, knowing that the wizard was using her against her will. I forced myself to look away from her, hoping to settle the outraged pulsed that pumped within my veins at the violation of her free will.

I looked over the other two figures standing with her, observing what I could. The farthest figure was a mountain of a man, easily half a foot taller than my average height. He wore a gray cloak that did little to hide the slabs of muscle across his upper body. The man turned about slowly, his eyes trailing over the clearing. When they focused our way, we made sure we were well out of sight.

His gaze didn't linger, and once I was sure his attention was elsewhere, I lifted a hand to my glasses.

" _Agor_ ," I whispered, so softly that it might as well have been only in my head. As I spoke the command, I ran a finger along the right side of the frame, sliding it forward.

As the gloved finger rode along the wood, my vision shifted, zooming in on the man. The telescoping spell allowed me to observe more details from a distance, but it didn't make what I saw any better.

My first observation about the man proved to be correct. As he continued turning, I saw that his chest and arms were thick beneath the gray cloak. He certainly didn't look like any wizard I had heard of. Weren't they supposed to be lazy basement dwellers, casting spells to make their lives easier rather than doing any honest work?

If so, nobody had told this guy. I'd seen warriors before, and had no doubt the man I was looking at was a seasoned veteran. He looked to be older, perhaps in his late forties or early fifties, but he carried himself like a much younger man. His short cropped hair was going gray, and his neat beard had already started fading to white. His skin looked to be tan, but also somehow seemed sickly. There was something off about him and his slack expression.

Maybe it was a side effect of my night vision, but as I looked over his face, I thought I detected a glint of green in his eyes. Before I could be sure, his survey of the graveyard continued, turning him away.

He bore a sword on one hip, and a twisted and gnarled club on the other. His hands were bare, but were close by each weapon, no doubt ready to draw either at a moment's notice.

As he continued looking around the clearing, I shifted my gaze to the shorter man beside him.

Whereas the first was well over my own six foot frame, the second man looked to be slightly shorter. His arms were raised slightly before him, his palms down as his fingers played slowly through the air. He wore his own gray cloak over what looked to be normal clothing. Nothing flowery or pleasant, mind you, but it wasn't the solid black, Darth Vader-wannabe wardrobe I assumed every dark wizard wore.

His tangled hair was dark with streaks of silver lancing through, and hung hung limply down to his shoulders. I could see a little bit of his own beard, somewhat overgrown and unkempt, but the rest of his face was turned away.

A sword hung on his hip as well, a thinner blade by the looks of it. A long spear had been thrust into the ground beside him, easily within reach should he need it. I could barely detect a gentle thrum in the air, which seemed to coincide with a soft light pulsing around the spearhead. I wondered at it, and what purpose such a steady beat could serve. Was it tied up in the magic he was working?

The green haze I'd seen blending with Violet's power seemed to emanate from the wizard's outstretched hands, green tendrils of smoke coiling down toward the ground. Unlike Violet's working, the man's magic felt _wrong_. I didn't have much in the way of magical sensitivity, but I knew dark magic when I saw it. Rather than cascading down, the green smoke twisted and turned in a serpentine manner, branching out across the graves and digging into the turf.

The fog didn't reach us in the trees, but there was a chill in the air that seemed to come from the mists swirling through the tombstones.

This was definitely our dark wizard.

I sub-vocalized the command to release the telescoping spell. My night vision remained on, and I turned to Anya. I motioned to the two men, and made a shooting sign with my fingers.

The punky vampire nodded, and moved in silence to draw one of her Desert Eagles. I shifted to do the same with my Beretta, and then gestured to the two again. Indicating that she should take aim at the big guy, I crouched at the edge of the clearing, sighting along the gun.

I may not be able to sling lightning with my fingertips, but having a cop for a mother meant that I could shoot with the best of them.

I took aim at the dark wizard casting the green fog, sighting the back of his head. I trusted that Anya would fire just after me, her enhanced reflexes ensuring that her own shot would be almost in tandem with mine. My crouch meant that I had to aim over a headstone, but my line of sight was clear. I exhaled, my finger tightening on the trigger.

And as I prepared to shoot, a dark form simply appeared in front of me, not ten feet away.

My breath caught as flaming crimson eyes stared at me from a nightmarish face. The glowing orbs faded to an emerald color around the edges, where green tendrils of smoke seemed to drift from the corners. The beast's lips were curled back into a snarl, revealing a trembling maw of razor sharp teeth. A foamy drool dripped from its mouth, sizzling like acid where it struck the ground.

Its size was more ursine than canine. The Hound was easily four feet tall at the shoulders, and muscled unlike any natural beast. Its muscles rippled beneath its dark skin as it leaned forward, the obsidian coat shifting like shadows. Dark, gray smoke rose from beneath its paws, and I could faintly see where the ground was singed under its tread.

I felt more than saw Anya tense beside me. Sal was just behind us, and had no clear path to the beast. I knew he could probably leap over my crouching form, but I wasn't sure how fast the Hound was. There was also a part of me that worried that we might accidentally kill it in self defense, thus failing half of the mission before we even got started.

Had I truly understood the nature of the beast staring at us from a few feet away, I would have realized how ridiculous that concern was.

The Hound emitted a low growl, causing the air to fill with tension as I desperately tried to think of what to do. And as we waited, the larger man finally noted the attention of the dog, and shifted his gaze toward us.

In the same breath that he noted our presence, the smaller man's mumbled chant grew, and the mists all around the graveyard swirled into a dizzying tizzy, an unnatural light growing from within the fog as it sank into the ground. The green tendrils undulated in time with the pulse from the spear.

A second later, my heart stopped, as I watched the earth above a hundred graves begin to churn.

And as the first of the undead began to rise from their tombs, the Hound of Hades burst into motion, flinging its massive form at us before we could respond.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It turns out my estimate of surviving fifteen seconds was woefully optimistic.

The Hound of Hades didn't leap at us; it seemed to shimmer in my night vision, before suddenly reappearing in front of me, traveling the ten feet in an instant. There was no time to move; no time to adjust my aim, or even shout in surprise. There was no time to come to peace with my imminent death.

The only thing that saved me was Sal's lightning quick reflexes.

In truth, the massive salamander was already moving before the Hound started forward. His leap was direct, meaning that it carried him into my left shoulder, knocking me slightly to the side as he tried to intercept the Hound. The bodies of the two over-sized beasts crashed together with a sickening thud and an explosion of sparks.

Even in his enlarged form, Sal almost didn't survive.

Having the mass of a large dog doesn't do much against several hundred pounds of unnatural canine muscle hurtling at you via supernatural means. He fared no better than a deer against a car. His body was thrown down and to the side, the larger beast trampling him beneath its searing gait.

The encounter slowed the Hound down for perhaps a fraction of a second, which was just enough time for Anya to flash toward me, one of her swords whipping toward the canine form from the side. It was a blur of silvery-green light in my night vision as the blade cut through the space the beast occupied.

The attack, as swift and as accurate as one could hope, had absolutely no effect on the beast.

The sword passed through the Hound as if it weren't even there. My eyes widened in shock as the obsidian dog crashed into me, whole and sound, at bone-breaking speed.

I crashed to the forest floor, and felt several things snap as I did. The steel rod that was slung across my back, the most powerful weapon I carried, wasn't exactly something I'd choose to break my fall. My vision swam as pain rocked my body, and I gasped for breath as my lungs seemed to collapse.

I felt movement around me, and heard a scream that might have been Anya. The weight over me shifted but never went away. A desperate wheeze brought some much-needed oxygen to my body, but there was definitely something wrong in my chest.

Foremost of my concerns, of course, was the fact that a bajillion ton dog was sitting on me, the low growl in its throat vibrating across every inch of my body.

My vision was just beginning to return as distant sounds began to register. I saw the crimson and emerald eyes overhead as they swung around, looking back toward the graveyard. The beast tensed, its claws digging in to the reinforced leather I wore, and then it was gone in a flash.

I gasped as the Hound disappeared, flickering out of sight. With its weight gone, breathing came slightly easier, but only barely. I couldn't even begin to think about sitting up, though, as my chest was still in agony, a wet fluttering sensation accompanying a sharp pain and haggard breath as I inhaled.

Moments after the dog departed, Anya was at my side. My glasses were skewed, but I could see where a set of jagged rends had torn through her leather jacket. Pale blood glittered across the surface, and the punky vampire held herself as if in serious pain.

"Woody, are you okay?" she asked quickly, clearly worried at the sight of me.

I gestured feebly at my chest, and made another gasping sound in my attempt to speak. A gurgling sound accompanied that, one that didn't sound good at all.

"Okay, get ready," she said as she dropped to her knees beside me and immediately unzipped her coat. She was nude beneath it, something not all that surprising if you knew her. Beautiful pale skin was exposed to the early morning air, the twirling and curling silver lines of her body-length tattoo glinting in my night vision. But the sight of her fit form and pert breasts was ruined somewhat by the torn and bleeding flesh of her stomach.

She tore her helmet off and lowered herself across me, her lips seeking out mine. I managed to get an arm up to hold her off just long enough to gather my thoughts.

As a vampire of the White Court, Anya didn't feed on blood. Instead, her kind fed on the life force of their victims. While different branches of the family went about it in different ways, some more pleasant than others, the end result was usually the same. The vampire was left re-energized, giving them strength, speed, and stamina well beyond human limits, and a life of eternal and beautiful youth.

The victim's own life was decidedly shorter.

Silver eyes flashed over me, the girl's hunger urging her forward, telling her to take my life force for herself. But my friend had learned to control herself better over the last year, and she refrained from killing me in a maddened rush.

Instead, she waited for my consenting nod, and then my world spun as she fed from me.

Parental Advisory: If you want your kids to live long and healthy lives, don't let them make out with White Court vampires.

As Anya pressed her lips to mine, a warm and altogether pleasant sensation replaced the pain that racked my body. It was the feeling of her power washing over me, igniting the pleasure centers in my brain enough to override any other sense, be it physical or mental. Her hunger began to feed from me at the same time, taking energy from myself and passing it on to the demon that existed within her.

For anyone else, the exchange would be pleasant but deadly. A brief encounter might leave them feeling weak, while a longer one might have a lasting effect on their health. If she fed deep enough, she could kill without a second thought, leaving nothing but an empty husk behind.

For me, things were a little different.

Several years before I'd met Anya, I was exposed to an incredible form of magic that left me changed for the better. An apple seed from a magical golden fruit had been bestowed upon me by a creature I had helped. Once consumed, the seed had healed the injuries I'd taken, as well as granted me an enhanced rate of recovery ever since.

I wasn't Wolverine or anything. If I took a bullet to the heart, I wasn't coming back. But wounds that should have taken months to heal took days instead; smaller injuries took even less time. On top of that, my eyesight had been improved, to the point that I no longer needed my enchanted glasses for corrective vision. And when I exercised, my body recovered from fatigue faster than others.

It was an incredible gift. But it was nothing compared to the healing I was capable of when a White Court vampire fed upon me.

We'd discovered it by accident when we first met. Anya had been mortally wounded, and her hunger had taken over her conscious mind. She'd fed from me — much too deeply to hope for me to survive. But when it was over, the vampire was healed, and I was still breathing.

Truth be told, my own injuries had been healed as well, and I was left feeling energized and refreshed.

It seemed impossible at the time. Her cousins had never seen anything like it. But despite numerous feedings, my life force — and therefore my life itself — was never depleted. The source of my miraculous healing, the energy of the apple seed, fed her hunger without any harm coming to me. And in the process, her hunger brought that energy forth, infusing my body with it.

Since then, we'd experimented with duplicating the effect. Our efforts confirmed that as long as I was in a state of meditation, where I was actively trying to heal myself using the power of the seed, her hunger would draw on that power rather than my life. I wasn't great at meditation, but it didn't take much to activate the healing nature of the seed. The right state of mind would trigger the power, even though I couldn't actually feel it.

And I no longer had to find a quiet space to recover. With practice, I'd gotten to the point where I could mentally recite a mantra that fueled my healing while doing other things. Including allowing a White Court vampire to practice her feeding habits.

If I wasn't concentrating, though, then her hunger would feed on _me_ , and I'd be no better off than any other mortal.

That's why I'd held her off for a moment. I needed to get myself in the right state of mind. I needed to reach for that source of power within me, which would allow us both to heal as she fed.

"Mmmm," she moaned into my mouth as she writhed against me.

It was enough to draw my attention back to reality. I blinked my eyes open, and saw that at some point she'd straddled my waist. I was sitting up, and holding her tightly to me as she ran her hands through my hair.

Somehow I managed to remember where we were, and the danger that we were in. The sound of explosions echoed through the trees, and I could see flashes of light back in the direction of the graveyard. I pushed at her shoulders, and Anya withdrew slightly, a warm smile filling her lips as her argent eyes stared lazily at me.

"Warm," she mumbled as I gently pushed her to the side.

"Come on, Anya. Concentrate," I whispered, even as I tried to do the same. We'd found that whenever she fed from me, Anya ended up entranced with the flavor of my power almost as much as my mind became inebriated by hers. If she'd used all of her power on me, I wouldn't have been able to remember my name, much less resist her obvious charms.

"Mmm-hmm," she moaned, not quite back to her senses.

I scrambled to my feet, and as I did, the aches started coming back. But the quick bout of healing had repaired whatever serious damage had been done to my chest and lungs, and I found that I could breath easier. There was still pain, and I had a long ways to go before I'd be one hundred percent, but I was at least mobile.

As I looked about, I saw that the Hound had knocked me several yards back into the forest. I suppose I was lucky he hadn't crushed me into the side of a tree. I spotted Sal, who looked to be in the same shape I was in. He'd returned to his normal salamander size, rather than holding the combat form, and was draped across an exposed tree root. His head turned toward me when he saw me up and about.

"You okay, buddy?" I asked, to which he gave a somewhat affirmative trill. He stood up, but looked a little wobbly. "Take it easy," I told him, motioning him back down. I hobbled back over to the edge of the clearing, staying close to a tree to avoid being seen. As I looked out over the graveyard, I could guess at what had distracted the Hound.

Out in the open space, half a dozen wizards were doing their best to kill each other.

I flinched as I saw one new arrival, a man that appeared to be in his thirties or so, thrust his hand at the large man I'd seen before. The air shimmered with unseen power as a spell ripped through the air at the older wizard.

The behemoth simply raised his left arm, his hand grasping the gnarled staff of wood in front of him. As he motioned with it, a wall of dirt flowed up as if it were water, forming a partial dome of earth to intercept the shimmering spell. It exploded on impact, making the air crackle with energy as power flickered in every direction.

The younger wizard charged the elder, his sword held aloft in his right hand while his left palm thrust forward at the earthen wall still between him and his target. A shout escaped his lips, and the air shimmered a second time as a wall of pure kinetic force struck the barricade, shattering it and sending dirt flying. The wizard charged through it, only to find the elder man's sword swinging through the space where the wall had stood.

The sound of metal striking metal filled the air as the sword crashed down onto the younger man's left arm. I blinked in surprise, fulling expecting him to lose the arm — if not his life — to the lightning quick attack. But as the sword swept down his forearm, the young man's sleeve tore away, and dark metal sparked beneath it.

The younger wizard's sword whipped around from the other side, and I thought for a second he might succeed in defeating the giant. But the bearded man shifted the gnarled staff in his left hand, and a diagonal column of dirt shot up from between his feet. The shaft, spreading three feet in diameter as it went, crashed into the chest of the younger man, and sent him flying back. I saw him spin head over heels several times before crashing to the ground. He managed to land on both feet, with his left arm extended down to the ground. His fingers dug into the soil, slowing his momentum.

But the blow was enough to knock him back toward the ring of walking dead that formed around them. Sensing his sudden arrival in the midst, the undead surged forward to grab at him.

The zombies were ghastly creatures in varying states of decay. Some were fresh, while others looked like they might have been torn from a centuries old slumber. Where natural skin and tissue had decayed, a nauseating green flesh formed in its place. The dark magics clung to them, giving them form.

The undead encircled those that had raised them, forming a protective ring in the middle of the field. Most were immobile, simply staring slackly into the sky as they rocked back and forth. But as the young wizard fell into their midst, those closest to him took action, pulling at him with their feeble arms.

I saw the young man begin to work his way through the mobile skeletons, kinetic blasts shattering some while his sword cleaved rotting heads from emaciated corpses. It looked like the zombies weren't any real threat to him, as long as they didn't slow him down long enough for the older wizard to strike him unawares.

I looked back to the older man, but saw that he was busy with another wizard that had appeared, this one even younger. The second had somehow slipped through the ring of the dead like a shadow, and was now busy flinging spells at the larger wizard.

I watched as his dark coat swirled about the young man as he held his left hand out toward the giant. The green and purple mist between them rippled and swirled in midair, before condensing into what looked like jagged ice-cycles. Once they had formed, the young man thrust his arm out, and the frozen projectiles shot forward.

The elder wizard couldn't get an earthen wall up in time to stop the assault, and a dozen or more ice-cycles crashed into his body at breathtaking speeds. The man staggered, and I held my breath in anticipation of seeing him fall. But despite the violent barrage, no permanent damage seemed to be inflicted. He righted himself and spun his sword through the air, the blade shining for a second as it intercepted the next spell the young man had sent, splitting a fireball in two. The flames wavered and broke apart as they flew to either side of him.

Undeterred, the young man continued his onslaught of differing spells. A wind funnel spun out from the left hand, followed by a kinetic blast from the right. Those were followed by a brilliant display of dizzying sparks, and then a small stone cross that seemed to be thrown by some telekinetic power.

As the young wizard worked, I watched him, amazed by the speed at which he hurled so many spells. There were no shouts or incantations, no forms or gestures. Only a grim look of determination and the back and forth motion of his arms.

But as he moved, my eyes caught sight of something. As his left hand thrust out, sending a spell that caused the earth around the older man to roll up around his calves, the younger man's right hand was drawn back, preparing the next spell. I caught a glimpse of movement along his gloved fingers, the barest glint of metal shifting in the faint light, and then that hand was thrown forward, unleashing five bullet-sized fireballs that spun around the older wizard's defensive attempts.

For all his efforts, the young man had little gains to show. While the plethora of different attacks was keeping the older man off balance, none of them held enough power to incapacitate him. Attacks that I was sure should would have brought anyone low did little more than cause the giant to stagger.

Perhaps if the other young wizard had broken free of the zombies, the barrage of spells might have been enough to distract the man, allowing him to ambush the older wizard. But I saw that the wizard with the metal on one arm was now retreating from the Hound, which had appeared at his side with alarming speed.

The beast had shredded what remained of his left sleeve in a violent swipe of its paw, and was now trying to finish the man off. I stared hard at the arm that I'd thought bore some sort of metal armor, only to realize that there was no armor at all. Instead, it looked as if the wizard's arm was itself made of _metal_.

An explosion from the other direction drew my attention, and I turned just as a young woman crashed through the woods and appeared beside me.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?!" she whispered breathily as she looked me over. I did the same to her, flinching at her unexpected arrival.

The girl was young, perhaps in her late teens or early twenties. Long straight hair the color of fresh wheat was pulled back into a long braid that hung limply across her back. Blue-green eyes, wide with alarm, were the most striking feature of a pale and attractive face.

Her slim body hugged at the tree she'd rounded to reach me, but tensed as a blade appeared at her throat.

"Whoa!" I shouted, bringing a hand up to stave off Anya's sudden attack. But the vampire had stayed her own hand, leaving the blade up but ready should the girl prove to be trouble.

"Who are you?" Anya growled, shooting a suspicious scowl at the girl. I noted that she hadn't bothered to zip her jacket back up, which left a lot of pale skin still showing. Her stomach, freshly healed and without a trace of the injuries she'd had, was no longer a deterrent from noting her beauty. Her skin almost shone with power, causing the silver tattoo winding around her to glint brightly in the night.

"Penny! I'm Penny!" the girl whispered quickly, her wide eyes traveling the length of the blade beneath her chin.

"What's going on?" I asked as my attention was drawn toward a far corner of the clearing. There I saw another two wizards in a more physical duel, the speed of their movements almost too fast for me to comprehend.

The taller of the two was shirtless, and wielding a Thai Dha sword with shocking precision. The second wizard was a whirlwind as he countered the other man's attacks with his own samurai sword. The younger of the two, really no more than a boy, deflected a swipe from the dha sword and spun almost weightlessly, kicking off a tombstone to propel himself at the other man. His samurai sword slashed toward the other, but the bare-chested man slipped a leg back to support his weight as he bent backward at the waist.

The samurai's attack missed, but the young man's left hand moved in a flash, drawing a short tanto sword from a sheath at his hip. Rather than try and cut the man with the smaller blade, he instead released it, and I saw the silver steel disappear into the gut of the shirtless man.

Unfortunately, his attack left him vulnerable to the taller man's free hand. Even off-balance and sporting what had to be a lethal injury, the shirtless man twisted his wrist, his fingers curled into hooks as he made a backhanded slashing motion.

Five arcs of blue light appeared, growing in length as they spun toward the younger man. By the time they reached him, they had become thin crescent moons. Each tore at the young wizard, burning like lightning while cutting like steel.

Blood arced through the air as the boy fell away, landing in a heap beyond a headstone.

"Rai!" Penny shouted, darting away from us and toward the pair.

"Damnit," I cursed, before setting after her. Anya was only a second behind me, until her superior speed propelled her ahead.

The taller man rose, pushing himself up from the ground where he'd fallen. I saw him look down at the short sword in his gut, and with a casual disregard, pulled the blade from him and threw it aside. That such a brutal attack had not finished him was disturbing. What was even _more_ disturbing was that no blood spilled from the gaping wound.

The worst, though, was his face. The dull, slack, unfeeling expression that made him look all too much like the zombies I'd seen.

" _Féargaoithe!_ " Penny shouted as she ran at the man, raising what I took to be a short copper wand.

The man turned at her shout, having been focused on the fallen boy. I caught the barest hint of something glinting in his eyes, something almost human, as he looked at the oncoming girl. Then my view was obscured as thousands of blades of grass were launched into the air.

The storm of clippings swirled toward him, spinning quickly about. I saw the man flail about for a second, his sword trying to cut through the spinning wall of grass. Where it passed, flashes of blue-white light flickered out, and the stench of ozone grew as we ran closer.

" _Féarcloí!_ " the girl shouted. When she did, all of the loose cuttings suddenly flew at the man, adhering to his body as if covered in glue. He looked down at himself as every inch of his body became covered in turf. Before he could even think of a way to counter such an attack, the girl shouted a third spell. " _Féartine!"_

The man spasmed as every piece of grass touching him burst into flame, as if caught in a wildfire. His arms flailed, and I saw his mouth open into a silent scream as his flesh burned.

But despite the trauma of such an attack, when the fire was spent, the man was still standing. He must have been in horrific pain, for his entire body was marked with shallow burns. What had been evenly tan skin was now a blotchy patchwork of blacks and reds. Even the loose pants he'd worn had been mostly burned away, leaving barely any spans of flesh untouched.

And yet still he was standing.

Worse still, his eyes fixated on the girl, the pained and maddened rage he felt quickly fading from the emerald whites of his eyes, leaving his gaze dull and dead.

His hand darted to his hip, and I saw him draw the dha sword's sheath from the fabric belt at his waist. The wooden scabbard was covered in soot marks from the girl's attack, but symbols carved into the sides began to glow with a blue-white light as the man's mouth moved.

Despite clearly shouting a command, there were no words to accompany his actions. It was as if I were watching a mime act out a spell.

" _Féargaoithe! Féarcloí!_ " Penny shouted again, sending another storm of grass cuttings at the man. But as they spun toward him, a sphere of crackling blue energy enveloped him, arcs of lightning playing across the surface. Puffs of smoke sparked up wherever the grass touched upon the shield, until the last of them were spent.

"Fuck this," I heard Anya mutter, clearly unimpressed by the flora-based attack. I saw her lift one arm, and watched as she opened up with one of her Desert Eagles, the hundred round drum fueling a barrage of fire.

The blue-white energy shield lit up as round after round impacted it, the bullets sparking as they ricocheted away. The man inside shifted the sheath in his grip, and with another silent command, expanded the circumference of his shield.

None of us could stop in time, and the wall of crackling energy flashed out rapidly across that end of the clearing, striking each of us as it went. My jaw clenched and my muscles spasmed helplessly as the electrical energy coursed over me. I hit the ground hard, trembling in the wake of the attack.

As soon as my muscles started responding, I craned my neck around to make sure the man wasn't coming for us. But rather than finishing us off, I saw him sheath his sword, and then head to the boy.

I watched the burned and bare-chested man crouch down beside him, and for a moment I thought he was finishing him. Instead, I saw him slide the boy's swords into their scabbards, and then lift him up. After draping the boy limply over one shoulder, the man broke into a run. I struggled to keep him sight as he moved with impossible speed, a flash of blue-white energy crackling about his legs as he leapt atop a headstone. From there, he pushed off, and I twisted to watch him dart across the graveyard, jumping from stone to stone, until he made an impossible leap over the ring of zombies enclosing the others.

I stumbled to my feet, supporting myself against a headstone. The sound of battle still emanated from around the clearing, and flashes of light sparked up on the far side. Noting one grave marker with a large base several feet off the ground, I staggered toward it and pulled myself up, holding on to the large cross atop it.

From the slightly elevated position, I could see above the mass of undead bodies.

The burned man had rejoined the dark haired man within the ring of the dead, where he dropped the boy to the ground. The dark mage turned to look at the boy, and the glimpse that I caught of his face looked gaunt and pale. He seemed to stare for a moment, as if trying to see something I could not. After a couple seconds, he nodded his head, and the Hound flickered into sight beside him.

I saw the beast move to stand over the boy's limp form, much as it had done with me. Once it was positioned, it dipped its head down to the boy's chest, as if preparing to tear him apart.

But what it did was much worse than that.

After a long heartbeat, I watched as the Hound's head slipped _into_ the boy's chest.

The huge dog didn't consume the boy, so much as it _merged_ with him. I saw the young man's body spasm for a moment, before growing deathly still. The Hound's eyes glowed fiercely as its head rose, and I saw an incredibly bright light clenched between its teeth.

The sight hurt my eyes. Maybe it was the night vision of my glasses, or maybe it was simply exhaustion and fatigue causing my temples to pulse. But when I looked at that sight, it made my head spin.

It felt _wrong_. As if I were witnessing something that should not be seen; seeing a piece of something that was beyond human comprehension.

And then, just as quickly, the light was gone, swallowed down the throat of the massive beast.

The gaunt faced man turned then, looking to his left, and my eyes followed his gaze. There, I saw Violet standing just outside the ring of zombies, her torch held aloft. A whip of amethyst fire struck out from atop the lantern, lashing toward a man I didn't recognize. The fire was impossibly fast, but the target dove aside, barely avoiding a strike that at best would have cut him in two, and at worst would have left left him smothered in flames.

The whip of living flame coiled around, preparing to strike again, but it froze as Violet's body tensed. Her head turned back toward the gaunt man, and then her body mirrored it. The flames of the torch recoiled as Violet strode toward the undead. The mass of bodies parted for her, and then she was in the inner circle with the others.

The gaunt man looked about, a calculating set to his eyes as he looked over the graveyard, and the small army of the dead that he had raised. His eyes locked on mine for a moment, and I felt a chill ripple through me.

After a moment, the gaunt man turned back to Violet. His lips moved, and Violet's arm lifted, holding her torch higher.

And then, as dawn broke over the mountain to the east, the ring of the walking dead, and everyone within, disappeared in a flicker of light.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I stared out across the clearing, looking to where Violet had disappeared, as the sun crested the mountain.

As the light shone over the graveyard, my eyes began to water. The night vision spell wasn't meant to be used under any true light, and I hastily whispered, " _Sanya_ ," returning my sight to normal. I blinked away the tears as I looked over the ruined graves.

"Woody," I heard Anya say tentatively from somewhere behind me. I turned, and saw her standing behind the grave marker I stood atop. She leaned against it, looking up at me.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I hopped down, my feet faltering as I landed. My body was still recovering from the electrical shock it'd received, not to mention the beating it had taken from the Hound. Having been closer to the wizard, Anya had received worse than I had.

"I'm fine," she said with a slight grimace. Even though she didn't look it, I knew she probably was. As a White Court vampire, she could draw on her reserve of power to heal herself. She'd be right as rain in no time.

She'd zipped up her jacket at some point, and I saw that her handgun had been re-holstered. One of her swords was missing, and I saw it discarded near where she must have landed.

I headed that way, and saw Penny sitting against a tombstone, her face in her hands as she cried. As I approached, a shifting of shadows drew my eyes to the tree-line. I looked up, and my steps wavered as I spotted a pair of crimson eyes high up in the trees. Shadows shifted around them, impossibly dark with the dawn shining toward them. The eyes blinked, and then they were gone, as the sound of birds taking flight reached my ears.

I shook my head, and Anya looked to me in confusion. I looked back to the trees, but there was nothing there. Maybe there hadn't been. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me after a long day and non-existent night.

I finished walking to the girl, who's shoulders were shaking. "Are you alright?"

"Rai," she sobbed softly, pulling her hands away to wipe at her tears. "They took Rai."

I was assuming that was the name of the boy I'd seen. "I'm sorry," I told her.

She sniffed to hold back more tears, and I saw her tore some grass away from the ground. There were burns on her skin from where the energy shield had struck her, and I watched as she split the grass between her hands and pressed the foliage to the wounds.

A mumbled incantation escaped her lips, too soft for me to hear, and then the girl tossed the grass away. I noticed as she did that the previously green blades were now brown and shriveled, and her wounds looks somewhat improved. She repeated the process several times, until there was hardly any trace of injury left.

The sound of approaching footsteps drew my attention, and I turned to see two others arriving beside us. They were the two I'd seen dueling the older wizard.

The first was the older of the two, looking to be in his mid-thirties or so, with short dark hair and a darker look as he eyed me on approach. He was about my height, but had a lot more muscle than me. While I tend to be more on the lean and wiry end of the spectrum, this guy was closer to body builder. His muscle didn't balloon out like the gym rats I'd seen over the years, but he wasn't going to lose many arm wrestling matches.

His clothes were pretty normal, save for the ripped sleeve revealing what I took to be a magical arm. It would have to be, seeing as it was made of metal.

The entirety of his left arm, from fingertips to shoulder, was like something out of a comic book or movie. It was shaped like a normal appendage, and moved like one, but was decidedly not. The dark metal had markings etched into it from top to bottom. As he walked, the bands of steel on the appendage rippled like skin flexing over muscle.

Trying not to stare, I turned toward the second wizard. He was younger, probably about my age. A few inches below six foot, he had long dark hair and a well-kept beard. He also had one of those awkward tans, where he was clearly wearing sunglasses too long, leaving the skin around his eyes paler than his cheeks.

My eyes trailed over his fingers, recalling what I'd seen earlier. Sure enough, the guy was wearing half-gloves, which left his fingertips exposed. There were some interesting rings around each finger, and I could faintly see traces of metal wire interlinking them and running across the backs of his hands. Something trailed up the sleeves of his dark coat, but I couldn't make it out.

The only other notable thing was the backpack he wore; the hardshell kind, which for some reason seemed out of place.

"Rai?" the older one asked of Penny as they approached, his tone curt as he looked down at her.

"They took him," the girl whispered in reply, keeping her head down.

The man's jaw tightened, as did his left fist. I know, because I couldn't take my eyes off the metal appendage. Which is why I had such a good view of it as it suddenly lashed out into a punch that snapped my head around.

The blow spun me in place, and I ended up flat on my ass as I grabbed for my jaw.

"The _fuck?!_ " Anya shouted as she blurred into motion, one hand drawing a pistol. It was almost lined up with the man's head when that same metal hand that had clocked me rose, and I felt an odd thrum in the air. As he turned his wrist and lowered the arm again, Anya's own hand froze, before bending back down, leaving the gun barrel pointed harmlessly at the ground.

I saw Anya straining to lift the gun back up, but whatever held it in place was too great a force for her to overcome. Instead, her free hand moved, going for the second gun.

While she was still moving, the man's right hand — flesh and blood, I noted — whipped up, and an invisible wall hit Anya hard enough to send her flying back into a tombstone. The stone cracked under the force of the blow, and she slipped to the ground, stunned.

The gun she'd previously held floated in front of me, suspended in mid-air by whatever power the wizard was wielding.

"Enough, Serg," the third man said as he limped over. It was the one I'd seen Violet attacking right before she and the others had departed.

"How can you say that?" the older man growled, his brow furrowed as he glared down at Anya. "They got Rai _killed_."

"The hell we did," I spat while massaging my jaw. My pulse was on fire after seeing him fling Anya about, but I knew I didn't stand a chance against his power. Even with my all my tricks, I was no match for a wizard.

"Your interference got our teammate killed," the man whispered harshly, a furious glint in his eyes as he swiveled his gaze to me.

" _Enough_ , Moretti," the third man urged, putting some authority into his tone as he glared at the larger man from behind. "Stand down."

The metal-armed brute looked like he wanted to argue, but instead he turned and stormed off, his shoulders tense. Anya's gun dropped to the turf with a thud as he departed. I saw him lash out with the steel hand as he passed a tall tombstone, and the blow shattered the marble, sending pieces flying.

As mad as he was, he was at least in control. If he'd hit me that hard, my head would have looked a lot messier than the stone.

"Sorry about that," the third man said grimly. He was the same height as Moretti and I, but his lean build was more like my own than the former. His tan scalp was visible beneath some short stubble; it looked as if he might regularly shave his head, but had gone a little too long between treatments. His clothing was normal, save for a long beaded bracelet wrapped around his left wrist.

He offered a hand to me, while the guy with the backpack did the same for Anya.

I accepted the offer for assistance, while the punky vampire did not. She was up in a flash, taking a step back to separate herself from the wizards. "What the hell was that about?" she demanded.

Baldy glanced over his shoulder, watching Moretti depart, before turning back to us. "We saw you from across the way, taking aim at Salvago and Peña. When the dog jumped you, we came out of hiding, to try and help."

"Nobody asked you—" Anya began, but stopped when I turned slightly to her.

"We're sorry," I said, turning back to the man that was clearly in charge. "We had a bead on them, and thought we'd take the shot."

"Wouldn't have done you any good," the second guy with the backpack said, shrugging slightly when I looked to him. "Salvago had an air shield up around them."

"Oh," I said dumbly.

Of course a wizard could do that. Because they're wizards.

The guy gave shot me a chagrined smile, as if he felt sorry for me. Which was okay, because I felt sorry for me too.

"Simon, why don't you take Penny and go check on Sergio?" Baldy asked, less of an order than when he'd been talking to Moretti.

Simon nodded, his long hair bobbing. "Right. I'll check in with Vaccaro, too; let him know about Rai," he added grimly as he held a hand out to Penny. The waif of a girl took his hand, and when she was up, they walked off after the other.

Baldy turned back to me. "So, it seems you're after Salvago, too?"

"I have no idea who that is," I said with a tired shrug.

My words caused him to frown. "Then what were you doing here?"

I started to reply, but thought better of it.

"Look, why don't you give us a minute to gather our things, and then we can compare notes?" I asked, looking back to Anya. The punky vampire gave me a slight nod.

"Alright," Baldy said, looking between us, his eyes narrowing slightly.

I bent to retrieve Anya's gun, the weight of it with the large drum causing me to groan slightly. The aches from the fight were taking their toll on me, and after her encounter with Moretti, Anya was looking rough as well. I handed her the gun, and she slipped it into her thigh holster after securing the sword she'd discarded.

The two of us made our way back over to the tree line where we'd left Sal. I glanced over my shoulder, and saw that Baldy was watching us as he went to join the others.

"How you doing, buddy?" I asked as I looked down at the salamander.

The little guy looked better than he had when we'd left him earlier. While we'd been playing Whack-a-Mortal with the wizards, he'd been nomming down on half the forest. I could see where he'd dug out a small fire-pit, and the remnants of several branches lay in the middle. Sal was chomping on the cinders and ash, the nourishment for his kind when a Morton's steak wasn't readily available.

Sal gave a little belch of fire that let me know he'd be okay, and I sighed in relief as he scrambled up my leg and headed for his pocket. As he went, I stomped out the last of the sparks from his fire, and withdrew my box of cigarettes. It was made of snakewood, just like Sal's own box, and I quickly withdrew two cigarettes and a cinnamon stick.

Seeing the stick, Sal climbed back out of his box and up to my shoulder, where he sat back on his tail so he could happily take the stick into his webbed front feet. Feeling too tired to bother with the spells needed to light the cigarettes on my own, I held them aloft, and the fire-breathing salamander obliged me with a small fireball before starting in on his cinnamon stick.

With the ends still burning, I put one cigarette between my lips, and passed the other to Anya.

"So what do you think?" I asked her after I'd inhaled deeply, watching her as she watched the wizards across the way.

"I think I should call the family, and get Laura to send a missile cruiser to bomb the shit out of all of them."

I rolled my eyes. "What do you really think?"

The punky vampire looked at me, as if reasserting her statement. Seeing that I wasn't going to agree, she shrugged one shoulder, causing the silver tattoo running up the right side of her face to glint in the light. "Maybe kill the one, and work with the others?"

"I don't think they'd approve," I replied. "Especially considering we already got one of them killed."

"You don't believe that shit, do you?" Anya asked, her eyebrow quirking up.

"I don't know what to believe," I said with a sigh. "I think we're way the fuck out of our depth. And had they not acted when they did, I'd be dead, and you with me."

I thought back to the feeling of the Hound on my chest. The weight of him crushing me. The feel of my broken and cracked ribs, one of which had most likely pierced a lung, as the beast had hurtled into me faster than I could comprehend, or hope to defend.

And I recalled seeing it dip its head into that boy, and withdraw something I didn't want to think about.

"We need help," I said softly, unconsciously rubbing at my ribs beneath my leather jacket. "And Rose won't be back until the sun sets. Which means we either work with them, or we work alone."

Anya stared off for a moment, smoking her own cigarette and thinking. I did the same, feeling the edges of despair creeping into my tired mind. I'd already been up for a long day before Rose had arrived, and then our journey through the tunnels had added hours to it. Even if we'd arrived moments after our departure in the real world, the trip had taken its toll. Not to mention the abuse from the Hound and the wizards, piling physical trauma onto the emotional turmoil I felt at being helpless to save Violet.

It was a somber moment of self-doubt, only somewhat lessened by the gleeful trills and pleasant crunches as Sal worked on his treat.

"We don't have much choice, do we?" Anya finally said as she finished her cigarette.

"Not really," I agreed.

"Alright," she said, turning back to retrieve our bags. "But I can't guarantee I'm not going to kill that Moretti guy."

I turned to look for the gun I'd dropped when the Hound had hit me. "I can't guarantee I'd try to stop you."

* * *

After gathering our things, we went to join the others, who had set up shop a few dozen feet from the graveyard.

Simon was sitting Indian style on the ground, one half-gloved palm holding up a small, smooth black stone. Baldy was crouched beside him, and had two fingers placed onto the top of the stone. Both sat there with their eyes closed, seemingly doing nothing.

I eyed them, and then looked to Penny. Moretti was back in the graveyard, looking over the area.

"Communication stone," the girl said softly, answering my unspoken question. It looked like she'd recovered from her initial shock at losing her friend, but was still unnerved by the fight.

"Who are they talking to?" I asked, just as the two of them both shifted, their eyes opening simultaneously.

"Someone back home," Baldy said as he stood up. He brushed his hands off on his pants as Simon tucked the stone away out of sight.

"Vaccaro?" Anya asked, which elicited a slight frown from Baldy.

"Yes," he confirmed. "He's the warden that was acting as the Communications Officer for the Salvago Strike Team."

"I'm not sure I understood any of that," I admitted, crossing my arms. Doing so hurt, but I did my best to keep it off my face.

"Why don't we start off with an exchange of information, then?" Baldy said. "You tell us what you're doing here, and we'll tell you what we can about our mission."

"Alright," I said warily as Moretti wandered back over. "This is Anya."

"And this is Woody," the punky vampire said, nodding toward me. We'd heard that wizards could use your name against you if heard from your own lips, and decided to prevent that however we could.

Baldy nodded. "My name is Nelson. This is Simon," he said, formally introducing the kid with the ringed gloves and backpack. "And Penny, and Sergio," he added, indicating each.

"Nice to meet most of you," I said, casting a dark look toward Moretti. Rather than replying, the man just returned the look.

"Oh," Anya said suddenly, looking toward Moretti with sudden recognition. "Sergio Moretti, the White Council Warden out of New York."

"You've heard of him?" I asked, surprised.

"Word gets around up there," she said, re-appraising the man now that she knew who he was. It didn't look like that knowledge had improved her opinion.

"You're from New York, then?" Nelson asked calmly.

"I grew up there," Anya replied.

Nelson glanced toward Moretti, who shrugged slightly. "Sorry, don't know her. You can't expect me to know the name of every monster in my territory."

"Excuse me?" Anya said, bristling.

"Sorry, did I hurt the vampire's feelings?" Moretti asked sardonically.

"Enough," Nelson and I said simultaneously. We shared a look, and then Nelson nodded.

"Alright. How about we focus on the current situation?" he said, shooting a warning look at his own teammate.

"Fair enough," I said, trying to calm my temper. "I was hired by someone to resolve a situation for them. Based on what I saw earlier, I think it's this Salvago person that's causing trouble."

"Who was it that hired you?" Simon asked. I glanced at him, but his tone was curious rather than accusatory. A band of sunlight was breaking through the trees at just the right angle to blind him, so he pulled a pair of sunglasses out of his pitch black jacket and donned them.

"I'd rather not say at this time," I replied with an apologetic shrug. "All I can say is that my job involves the Hound and the girl."

"The Hound," Nelson repeated, frowning. "What was that? I've never seen anything like it."

"From what we were told, it's a Hound of Hades," I informed them.

"A hellhound?" Penny whispered, surprised.

"I've been told that there's a difference," I corrected her with a shake of my head. "Couldn't tell you what it is."

"I see," Nelson said, his frown looking thoughtful. "Our intelligence said nothing about it."

"My source told me that one of your kind went rogue," I continued. "A team was dispatched to take him out, and they failed. The Hound was sent to shepherd his soul to… well, wherever he was bound."

Nelson looked around, as if realizing where he was. "Ah. That explains it."

"It does?" I asked.

The man nodded. "Spiritually speaking, the different religions all have their own basis in reality. I'd hesitate to say that _all_ of them are real, or even remotely accurate. But my understanding is that when you die, your spirit is claimed by those who, for lack of a better term, hold jurisdiction over you."

"And that explains the Hound how?" Moretti asked, leaning against a tree a few paces away.

"The Hound of Hades," Nelson corrected him. He gestured to the forest around us, and the land in general. "We're on Chios, in Greece. Salvago is from here. His family must have worshiped the old ways."

"Alright," Moretti said. "So the Hound came for him. Why is it working for him?"

"That's what I need to figure out," I explained. "From what I was told, he subverted it to his will. Which shouldn't be possible."

"I see," Nelson said again, still looking as if he was pondering the deeper aspects of what he'd learned. His hand absently fiddled with the bead bracelet, and I suddenly realized that they were prayer beads of some sort. Combined with his look and his calm demeanor, there was a little bit of Kwai Chang Caine about him.

"What about the girl?" Moretti asked.

"Similar situation," I said, a little chill entering my words as I glanced at him. "Leave her to me."

"Uh, what?" Simon said, his eyebrows riding up over his sunglasses. "I don't know if you saw her in action, but she had Nelson on his heels." At a soft frown from the monk, Simon quickly added, "Which isn't easy to do."

"She's our business," I repeated. "And she's not to be harmed."

"Great," Moretti muttered. "A freakin' monster lover."

My quick retort was cut off by Nelson's own. "Serg."

"What?" the man barked, pushing off from the tree to scowl at his partner. "The guy's running around with two monsters, and talking about sparing another."

"Two monsters?" Penny said with a frown, just as Sal started growling at Moretti.

"His pet vampire and his familiar," Moretti said, flicking a wrist absently.

Penny looked to Sal, who was still on my shoulder. She was frowning, but it didn't look like it was because she shared Moretti's opinion. It was more that she hadn't considered just what Sal was.

"Seriously, man, chill out," Simon said to Moretti, looking up from where he sat on the ground. "We need to work together."

"Why?" Moretti shot back. "So they can get more of us killed?"

"I'm sorry about your friend," I said quietly, if not softly. I looked around at each of them. "I'm sorry he died helping us. I'm sorry we put you in that position. But that wasn't our intention."

Moretti looked like he wanted to say something else, but a glare from Nelson kept him silent. "That's alright. We understand," he said, more to Moretti than me. After a moment he turned back to us. "But we're hoping Rai might still be alive."

"Really?" I asked, glancing to Penny.

"They took him with them," she said softly, averting her eyes. "Maybe Salvago's going to do the same thing to him that he did to the others."

I thought back on what I'd seen. I couldn't say I shared their hope, but I didn't know enough about magic to know one way or the other. So I kept my mouth shut.

"Can someone explain who this Salvago guy is?" Anya asked, clearly frustrated.

Nelson looked up to the sky, and the sun that was beginning its march across the sky. "Let's all find a place to rest, and we'll fill you in on the way."

"We don't have transportation," I said as the others started moving.

Nelson looked back to us, obviously trying to add up everything he'd heard. "Then I guess we'll all squeeze in."

The four of them started walking through the woods, cutting across to a path I hadn't seen. Moretti kept an eye over his shoulder, as if he wasn't ready to turn his back on us. Which was fair, as I wasn't ready to do the same to him.

Anya and I shared a glance, and then trailed after them, wondering just what we'd gotten ourselves into.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It turned out the wizards had arrived not via magical means, but an old beat-up SUV. It had seen better days, and wasn't built as large as American vehicles, so fitting five wizards in must have been tight.

Six was overly friendly.

I ended up in the back seat beside Penny, with Anya perched on my lap. The vampire seemed to enjoy that a little too much, and silver streaks appeared in her eyes as she lazily looked me over.

I might have normally enjoyed it, but even as light as she was, Anya was making all my aches throb. And as tempting as it was to let her feed on me, to try and allow both of us to heal, I wasn't about to do that in front of the others. So I gave a slight shake of my head, and tried to keep my attention off her squirming motion in my lap.

"Tell us about Salvago," I said, turning toward Penny and Nelson, who rode in the back with us. Simon was driving, and Moretti was up front with him.

Nelson nodded his head, as if considering what he was going to share. "I can't tell you everything. Partly because of White Council security, and partly because I just don't know."

"I'll take what you can give me."

Nelson's bald head bobbed again. "Yannis Salvago is — was — a warden of the White Council. I guess you could say his focus was on magical research. He spent a lot of time studying every form of magic, even those he wasn't proficient in."

"So he's a book worm?" I asked, thinking back on the man I'd seen. He hadn't been as large as the other man — Peña, someone had called him — but he'd looked more like a field agent than an analyst.

"Hardly," Nelson said with a grimace. "Salvago has seen as much action as the most senior wardens. He fought against… enemy combatants during World War II. He fought in a secret campaign years earlier that all but obliterated a supernatural species. And he helped reform the Brute Squad after… after the war started."

"Okay," I said, not really understanding any of that. Which was becoming too much of a habit. "So, a general badass."

Simon snorted in the front seat. "I suppose you could say that."

"Salvago's strength wasn't necessarily in combat," Nelson explained. "He studied the enemy to better understand them, in order to obliterate them. In the Secret War, he studied the ways of… the enemy, and helped construct a strategy that would quickly and efficiently destroy them."

"He's talking about the Blamps," Anya said, drawing eyes to her.

"Ah, right," I said with a nod, recalling some of what she'd told me.

"What?" Penny asked.

"Blamps," Anya repeated. "Black Court vampires."

"How…?" Nelson said, surprised by her knowledge.

"Not all of you wizards hold us ' _monsters_ ' in such disdain," Anya said, her words pointed as she looked in Moretti's direction. "There was a time my family worked with some of your people. Stoker's manual being one of them."

"Of course," Nelson said, his eyes tightening as he re-appraised Anya.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Penny asked, clearly confused.

"A hundred years ago or so, a number of people from different factions worked together to exterminate the Black Court of vampires," Nelson explained. "There were several high members of the White Court involved. They helped gather intelligence, and organized the seemingly disorganized mob gatherings that confronted the vampires. Not to mention assisting with Stoker's _Dracula_."

And as he spoke, I realized what was behind that calculating look Nelson had sent Anya's way. In revealing that she knew of the secret war against the Blamps, she'd inadvertently revealed just how high up she was in the ranks of the Wamps. As Lara Raith's personal protege, she knew more than she should.

"Blamps? Penny said, confused.

"Blamps, as in Black Court vampires" I explained. When the others looked at me, I shrugged. "Sorry. Product of the generation; I don't like running around calling them all 'Whites', 'Reds', and 'Blacks'."

Nelson seemed to consider that, and gave a slight nod, while Moretti just sighed and shook his head in the front. "Monster lover."

"Salvago was involved with that as well," Nelson continued. "He spent a lot of time studying the… Blamps, as you say. Rumor has it he spent time dissecting them, to see what made them tick."

"Gross," Penny said with a slight shudder.

"So I guess he's older than he looks," I said, recalling the wizard I'd seen that was purportedly over a hundred years old, but only looked to be in his fifties.

"He was born here, on this island, around 1800 or so," Nelson said. "He's been a Wizard of the White Council since he was twenty, and a warden almost as long."

"Until he apparently went bad," I observed.

Nelson sighed. "Yes. Several years ago, Salvago left the Council. It was kept very quiet; almost as if those in charge were worried that drawing attention to him would do more harm than good. As far as our files show, he came back here, and has been quiet ever since."

"What changed?"

"I don't know," Nelson said honestly. "Orders came down from as high as they come several days ago, ordering a warden strike team to take Salvago out." Nelson's face was grim. "Not to bring him in; not to question him. Just kill him."

"Which went swimmingly," Anya observed sardonically.

"Clearly," Nelson said, while Penny shot the punky vampire a frown.

"So the strike team took a shot at him, and all but killed him," I said, picking up the story. "The Hound came to take his soul if he died. But he subverted it somehow. And then he went after the strike team."

"That's our understanding as well," Nelson agreed. "When the strike team didn't report back in, their COMMO agreed to help coordinate our own efforts."

"What do you mean, 'your efforts'?" I asked with a frown. "You aren't a second strike team?"

Nelson began to speak, but Penny cut him off. "One of the strike team members is my master," she said, swallowing nervously. "I was worried, and asked the others to help me find him."

"So why hasn't the Council sent another strike team?" I asked, bewildered at the lack of response to what was clearly a major threat.

Nelson looked away. "There are… other events occurring high up in the Council right now that have diverted resources elsewhere," he said vaguely.

"More important than a dark wizard enslaving other wizards and raising the dead?"

"We didn't know about any of that until this morning," Simon said from the front. "We told Vaccaro, and he's going to run it up. But with everyone looking for Morgan—"

"Phane!" Moretti snapped from the passenger seat, shooting a glare at Simon.

"Oh. Right," the driver said, looking slightly chagrined.

"Donald Morgan?" Anya asked with a frown. "As in second in command of the wardens?" Clearly she knew more about the wizards than she'd ever told me. Of course, she _was_ apprenticing under Lara Raith.

Nelson sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't suppose you could forget that was said?"

"Of course. Sure," she said, shooting me a look that clearly said she'd be calling Lara Raith with an update as soon as possible.

"It's no big secret," Simon said somewhat defensively. "Vaccaro just told us that someone's put a contract out. Every mercenary across the planet is looking for him."

"Shit," Moretti said, his jaw working tightly.

"That's no reason to disseminate too much information," Nelson said reproachfully. Simon just sighed in the front.

"Okay, putting all that aside," I said, waiving off what was clearly an awkward subject. "There's no-one available to hunt Salvago. So how'd you all come to it?"

"I asked Simon for help trying to find Master Argondian," Penny said. "He said we should bring Nelson in."

I shot a glance toward Moretti. Nelson picked up on it. "When we spoke with Vaccaro, and told him what we were doing, he recommended that Serg be brought on. They're both based out of New York, and they've worked together in the past."

"And Rai?" Anya asked, her tone soft.

Penny glanced at Nelson, who looked pained as he said, "Rai is sort of my apprentice."

Oh shit.

No wonder he was clinging to the idea that Rai might still be alive.

The vehicle grew silent as we rode into town. The graveyard had been adjacent to a church set a short distance from what turned out to be a small village, and it hadn't taken us long to get there. I looked out over the pale stone buildings, some of which looked like modern construction, while others looked like they might have been around since Salvago was a boy.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Avgonima," Simon replied. There was a map on the dash board. "It looked like the closest place."

I noted quickly that this was no resort town. Most of the buildings were old stone, clearly of a Mediterranean style. It was quaint, and if we hadn't been on a mission to save my girlfriend from a dark wizard that had enslaved her and was raising an army of the dead, I might have enjoyed the place.

Instead, I disembarked with the others, and headed toward what looked like a grocery store. Moretti and Simon remained outside, watching the vehicle.

"Excuse me, do you speak English?" Nelson asked the man working behind the counter.

"What was that?" the man replied.

Nelson looked around, his lips pursed. "Damn."

"Uh, what?" I said to him.

"I guess they don't get many visitors through here," he replied. He turned back to the grocer. "English? Is there anyone that speaks English?" he asked, gesturing around the town.

"Didn't he just…" Anya began, but stopped when the man spoke again.

"Americans," he sighed, looking back further into the shop. "Shali! Shali! Come translate for me!"

"Excuse me," I said to him, causing his head to snap back around.

"Yes? How can I help you?" he said, nodding politely with a relieved smile.

"You speak Greek?" Nelson asked, pleasantly surprised.

"No, I don't," I said with a frown.

Anya slapped my arm, and when I looked to her, she put a finger to my lips. It took me a second to realize what she was implying.

The gift of knowledge Rose had given us not only let us understand Greek, but apparently allowed us to speak the language as well. I hadn't even realized that type of power was possible. Not to mention that it seemed to work automatically. As far as I knew, I'd been speaking English to the man. But apparently he heard something else.

"Oh, right," I said, turning back to the grocer. "I think we're looking for a place to stay? An inn or hotel?"

The man pointed outside. "There is a bed and breakfast across the way there." I looked out the window toward where he was pointing, and saw a sign. "Yes, just there. They will take excellent care of you."

"Thank you," I said with a grateful nod.

We made our way outside, with Nelson and Penny looking a little confused about what had just transpired. My denial of knowing Greek, followed by my apparently fluent linguistic skills, had them sharing looks.

Simon pulled the vehicle around while the rest of us walked across the square toward the inn. "What are we going to do about paying? I don't have any Greek money," I said to the others.

Neither did they, but the clerk at the bed and breakfast not only spoke English, but accepted most major credit cards. There were three rooms available, which we quickly reserved.

Anya and I took one room, while the others split the other two. We agreed to meet up after we took some time to freshen up, and then we'd figure out where to go from there. I was just as impatient as the others, but the long and brutal day had me dog tired and ready for a nap.

As I closed the bedroom door behind us, Anya was stripping off her leathers. I wasn't terribly surprised to find her going commando, and as her pale ass cheeks disappeared into the bathroom, I shrugged off my outer clothes and shoes, and laid back on the bed.

I hadn't even realized I'd fallen asleep until the punky vampire woke me, nudging my shoulder. "Go freshen up."

I somehow managed to pull myself up, doing my best to ignore her state of undress. She had a towel wrapped around her, but as she'd only tied it around her waist, her upper body was on full and glorious display. My eyes trailed over the thin lines of her silver tattoo that curled like vines up both sides, across her belly, and down her arms. They reappeared further down her legs beneath the edge of the towel, and I knew from experience that the argent coils curved around to her back.

Despite my exhaustion and worry, I felt a stirring in me. I quickly pushed those thoughts aside as I headed for the shower, which I found to be a shared bath with another of the rooms. Anya had locked the door from our side, and I heard some of the others beyond.

"..sure about this?" Moretti said, disapproval in his tone.

"Yes," Nelson replied, his voice sounding more weary than it had before. Maybe Moretti grated on _everyone_ _'_ _s_ nerves.

Rather than eavesdrop, I climbed into the shower, which was about the width of my shoulders, and crouched down to try and get beneath the spray. European facilities seemed to be somewhat skimpy on extra space. The room itself had only consisted of a bed and a dresser, and I wasn't even sure that Anya and I could have both been in the bathroom at the same time, much less shared the shower.

With those thoughts running through my mind, I turned the tap to a colder temperature, and finished up my quick scrubbing, before drying off and joining Anya back in the room.

She was beneath the covers, wearing only a seductive smile as she patted the twin mattress. "Will you walk into my parlor?" said the vampire to the man, an eyebrow twitching up suggestively.

I locked the door to the bathroom from our side, and then made my way over.

* * *

Two hours later, the aches and pains that I'd felt were gone, and I awoke refreshed and energized.

Anya stirred beside me, a leg and arm draped over my body as she snuggled close. I shifted gently, extracting myself from her embrace. As I rose, I was thankful to see that my undershorts were still on.

My relationship with the the lust vampire wasn't exactly normal. Despite appearances, we didn't have much of a physical relationship. I considered us good friends, and Anya seemed to be on the same page. She had no romantic feelings for me, nor I for her.

Yes, we cared for each other. When a White Court vampire fed on someone as deeply as she'd fed on me, and they somehow managed to survive, a bond was created between the two. But it wasn't romantic love; more like best friends that cared for each other deeply.

And yes, we were attracted to each other. She was beautiful, and had the charms and benefits of not only the lust demon fueling her, but generations of excellent breeding. White Court vampires were particular about who they reproduced with, and when you were as beautiful and as powerful as they were, you tended to have your pick of the litter, supernatural seduction skills aside.

But despite the attraction, and our frequent experimentation with using her hunger to fuel my recovery, Anya and I had never actually had sex. Violet hadn't been opposed to the idea; in fact, I think she'd harbored some thoughts of the three of us having some fun together. Knowing how Anya's tastes ran, I was sure she'd be into that as well.

I was the one that had hang-ups. Call me a fool, but I considered myself in an exclusive relationship with the immortal Lampad that was likely thousands of years older than me, who'd likely had countless lovers in ancient times. Stories about nymphs probably came from some kernel of truth, and Violet was even more beautiful than the punky vampire. For all I knew, she wasn't even really like me; some theorized that the ancient beings of power had shaped themselves after humans, having predated our existence.

None of that mattered. Nor did it matter that our love wasn't what you'd call 'true love'. As Anya had explained, two people in 'true love' were toxic to her kind. Love was the bane of the White Court, and was toxic enough to prevent any Wamp from feeding on us.

But apparently our love wasn't enough.

I'd spent some time analyzing that, trying to figure out what it meant.

I still didn't have an answer.

* * *

After using the facilities, I managed to get dressed and headed out, leaving the vampire in bed. I found Nelson outside, sitting in some meditative pose in a small garden. The space wasn't very big, and was even smaller considering Penny was lying on the grass, propped up against a small tree.

"I'm surprised you're up," the bald wizard said, his eyes not open as I circled around him.

"No rest for the wicked."

"Indeed," he replied, his eyes finally opening. When he saw me, he frowned, his head cocking to the side. "You're certainly… healthier than I imagined."

"I recover quickly," I said vaguely. I was cautious about how much I shared with others. My ability to heal, even without Anya's help, was somewhat rare in the mortal world. I had irrational worries about dark wizards cutting me open to see what made me tick.

Irrational, until I'd heard their stories about Salvago earlier.

"No, I meant…" he said, before trailing off.

"Ah," I said, understanding. "You meant for someone that was fed on by a vampire."

"Sorry," he said, and seemed to mean it. "When she began, I felt… something, through the walls. It felt odd. I came out here to get away."

"She has good self control," I assured him. Which was the truth, even if she hadn't always. When we'd first met, she'd struggled with her hunger. Unlike the older, jaded Wamps, Anya didn't accept that she had to kill humans to live. She had resisted her hunger as much as possible, refusing to hurt others.

All that had done was made her demon starve, leaving her less in control when she finally did feed.

Our relationship had changed her. She finally had a way to feed on someone without hurting them, as well as a Guinea pig to practice self-control. She still fed on others, but was able to do so without bringing undo harm.

"I see," the wizard replied, taking my statement at face value. Or maybe he was just being polite. "Well, you and Penny are probably in the best shape out of all of us."

"How's she doing?"

"She's got a strong basis in water and flora magic," Nelson said, looking toward the girl. "Give her some foliage and some time, and she's good to go."

"She's also awake," Penny said, not bothering to shift from her position against the tree.

"Well, we won't say anything too nasty then," Simon said as he came up behind us, a smile on his face.

"Any luck?" Nelson asked the new arrival, who leaned against the other wall of the small enclosed garden. With four of us out there, we were suddenly out of free space.

"No," the dark-haired wizard said with a shake of his head. He tossed a dark stone up in the air, the same which I'd seen him with earlier. "Still no contact with Argondian's, and Peña's is no longer responding either."

"Damn," the bald one said, cursing softly. "They must have figured out how we found them."

"How did you do that?" I asked, looking at the stone Simon was fiddling with.

"Oh. With this," Simon said, wagging it in the air. "It's a communication stone. Let's us talk over distance with others."

"So, the wizard version of a cell phone?" I asked, amused.

"More like the Emperor's hologram from _Empire Strikes Back_ ," he countered.

"Cool," I said, suddenly jealous. My ability to use a phone had diminished somewhat over the years, as my exposure to magic and magical constructs increased. I'd previously been able to use a smart-phone, but was now relegated to old flip phones that frequently crapped out.

"Anyway, Peña and Argondian both had communication stones on them when the team went after Salvago," Simon continued. "Vaccaro has been helping us track Peña's stone, which is how we located them in the graveyard last night. But there was no sign of Argondian. And his stone isn't responding."

"So the plan was to meet up with the strike team?" I asked.

"Yes," a terse voice behind me said. I looked over to see Moretti in the doorway. He'd replaced the torn shirt, leaving his steel arm covered under a long sleeve. A glove covered most of his metal hand. I did my best not to stare at the glint visible around his wrist. "It was a simple reconnaissance mission, until we were forced to act."

"Can we please focus?" Penny asked softly, surprising us all. The girl sat up, her long hair free of her braid as she scowled up at Moretti. "It's not their fault. Let's just focus on finding Reon, and then we'll worry about the others."

At the unfamiliar name, I glanced at Nelson, who nodded. "Reon Argondian, her master."

"So he wasn't the lightning guy," I said. "Who was that?"

"Somboon," Moretti said, his tone still curt but at least somewhat civil. "Another experienced warden."

"And the big guy. You said he was Peña?"

"Yes," the steel-armed wizard said, frowning. "The strike team consisted of Peña, Somboon, Sidorenko, and Argondian. Peña was in charge; why he and Somboon are now working with Salvago is beyond me."

"I think that has to do with the Hound," I said cautiously. When the others turned to me, I sighed, realizing I'd have to tell them something. "Salvago did something to the Hound, allowing him to control it. He did the same thing to Violet the next night. It might be the same thing he's done to the Wardens."

"Violet?" Nelson asked, arching an eyebrow. The guy was far too observant.

"She's a Greek Lampad," I explained.

Most of the others didn't seem to understand that, but Penny sucked in a breath. "Oh. My."

"What is she?" Nelson asked, looking between the two of us. Penny deferred to me.

"Very powerful," I told them. "Immortal. That torch she carries is the source of her power, and I've never encountered anything even remotely near its equal."

"So, two friendlies suborned by mystical means to help the enemy," Nelson concluded, thinking it over. "Some sort of mind control, perhaps?"

"No way," Moretti said firmly. "It'd be impossible to control a wizard like that. Especially hardened veterans like Peña and Somboon."

"True," Nelson conceded, inclining his head. "But it's equally hard to believe that he's convinced them to join his cause."

"Violet wouldn't join him," I said with conviction.

"Neither would Peña," Moretti said with equal confidence. "They were friends once, but they had a falling out when Salvago left. And even if he was sympathetic to Salvago, Peña wouldn't betray the Council."

"No more than Morgan would?" Simon asked softly.

Moretti stiffened, but didn't have anything to say to that.

"Clearly we don't know enough," Nelson said. "Finding Argondian might provide us with some answers."

"What about that other one?" I asked. "Sidious?"

"Sidorenko?" Simon asked, a bemused smile creeping to his face at my mispronunciation.

"Yeah."

"We're hoping she's still on our side," Nelson said. "Unfortunately, we don't have a way of tracking her. So we'll have to hope she's with Penny's master."

"But you said Argon… Argondola…"

"Argondian."

"Right, him," I said, rolling my eyes. "You said his stone isn't working. So how are we going to find him?"

Nelson looked to Penny, who stood up. She'd been braiding her hair, and looked just as refreshed as I felt. One hand slipped into a pocket of her loose coat, and I saw her withdraw a small vial filled with a red substance. "We can track him with this."

"Is that blood?" I asked.

"No," she said, holding the vial up. "It's paint."

As if that explained it.

Rather than asking, I simply nodded. "Okay. Let's find him, and get some answers."

I wasn't going to tell them what Rose had said. That Salvago had killed at least one of the strike team members in their initial encounter, and wounded the other. It seemed even odds that Argondian wasn't going to be of any help, but telling them that would only crush the girl.

"Enough jabber," Anya said, surprising all of us except for Nelson, who was a little too cool for school. We all looked up to find Anya was perched on the balcony overhead. I hadn't realized our room was right there. "Let's go find your master."

Penny nodded, and I could tell Anya's words had helped. The others all made to leave, and I winked at the vampire.

"Q called," she said, holding up her satellite phone. "He's on his way."

My grin was fierce as I followed after the wizards, finally feeling like things were coming together.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A couple hours later, I was somewhat less enthusiastic.

The truck I was sitting in bounced over a rough patch of road, and I did my best to not fall out.

The first thing we'd done was procure a second vehicle. With six of us barely fitting into the SUV, there wasn't going to be room for Argondian and Sidorenko if we found them. Since we were remaining optimistic, we were working under the assumption that we'd do just that, while also not losing any more people.

A local had been willing to rent us his truck for a nominal fee. Our worries over cash were resolved with the discovery of an ATM, which Anya was kind enough to use, drawing on the infinite funds of the White Court to pay the man enough for three new trucks.

After that, we'd set out to find the missing wizards using the vial of paint.

Apparently Penny had wanted to use it from the get-go, but the others overruled her, electing instead to track the team using the communication stone. There were some concerns that the thermo… thermos… thaumaturgic link between the paint and Argondian would be too weak for a proper tracking spell.

Those concerns proved to be accurate, as we came to a halt for the fourth time since setting out.

"Ugh," Simon groaned from the driver's seat of the truck, his head dropping to bang lightly on the steering wheel. His long hair fell to either side of his face, masking him from view. "Not again."

"Wizards," Anya said from beside him, a smirk on her lips. She rubbed her thumb against her index and middle fingers, in the universal gesture for money.

"You haven't won yet," Simon mumbled, staring forward as Penny climbed out of the SUV in front of us to recast the tracking spell with more of the paint.

"It seems inevitable," Anya said smugly, turning her head enough to wink at me through the rear window when Simon wasn't looking.

I just shook my head and shifted, trying to get comfortable in the bed of the truck.

Moretti was driving the other vehicle, with Penny navigating for him. Nelson was with them, along with one of their own communication stones. Simon was with us so that, should we get separated, he could reach out to the others with his black stone.

The cab of the truck wasn't very large, so one of us had to be sacrificed to the rear. With Simon holding the door open for Anya like a proper gentleman, that left me carefully trying to avoid the feathers and chicken shit scattered across the back.

"I feel like this one is going to work," Simon said somewhat nervously, shooting a glance at the beautiful vampire.

The young wizard had made the mistake of betting with the succubus after the second spell failed. If Penny managed to find Argondian in five spells or less, Anya would submit to a mild Q&A session with the guy. Simon would get to ask all sorts of questions about what it was like being a Wamp, along with any non-classified information on how the White Court worked.

If we stopped one more time, Anya would win. Which would mean Simon would have to submit to a mild T&A session with the hot girl, where she would get to find out what a wizard's power tasted like.

Back when we'd started, I'm sure Simon had thought the odds of him losing had been remote; and even if he lost, he'd still get to make out with someone as beautiful as Anya. But that was before she'd started staring at him with a slack expression and solid chrome eyes.

It'd taken everything I could to prevent myself from laughing when she'd leaned over after the third stop and inhaled along his neck, as if she were planning on taking a bite.

"Alright, here we go!" the wizard shouted as Penny climbed back in the first vehicle. "You've got this!

* * *

"Oh _come on!_ "

Simon's exasperated shout overrode my attempts at remaining neutral, and a laugh escaped my lips as the vehicle in front of us stopped for the second time since Anya had won the bet.

Personally I didn't know what he was so upset about. There were worse ways to go weak in the knees than kissing Anya, and she'd promised not to feed too much.

The wizard was now sweating, knowing that at some point Anya would claim her prize. The fact that she was still occasionally sending him silver-eyed glances wasn't helping.

"No, this is different," I said as I watched the front vehicle. Rather than just Penny exiting to refresh her spell, I saw that they were all sliding out. I hopped over the side of the truck and opened Anya's door for her as Simon exited from the other side.

Nelson jogged back to us. "She thinks we're close. It's leading over there, and the map doesn't show any more roads heading that way."

The rest of us gathered our gear, with Simon retrieving his backpack while Anya and I got ready. "Any clue as to how far?" I asked, looking into the sparse scattering of trees.

"Not far," Nelson said, before turning back to the other vehicle.

We were further north, and the dense forest near Avgonima had quickly faded into a sparsely covered landscape of hills and valleys. Our route had kept us west of the main mountain range that split the large island into east and west.

The direction the tracking spell was leading us was toward one of the rougher sets of hills, one that had no obvious path for the vehicles to take. The SUV might make it up one side, but there wasn't much point in risking it.

I took a few items, but didn't want to be overly burdened if we were taking a cross-country hike. I kept it simple, and left most of my gear in the bed of the truck. Once everyone had every they needed, we set out for the hills, with Moretti in the lead. He'd added a gray cloak similar to what I'd seen Peña wearing back in the graveyard. Simon had informed us that it was a warden cloak.

Nelson wore one as well, but the others didn't. Simon said he preferred using his own jacket. I'd looked over the strangely dark coat with interest. When I'd asked him about it, he'd just shrugged with a sly grin, and left it at that.

I'd also wondered at their armament. Nelson bore only a staff weapon, while Moretti carried his sword. Penny had a few items, including the copper wand I'd seen before, and a twisted rod of various woods, atop which sat a clear crystal. And then there was Simon, with his gloves and hard-shell backpack.

In comparison, Anya and I were sporting four guns, two swords, two magical maces, my spear, nearly a dozen smaller blades, the spells on my leather bracelet, and the bola and net weapons I frequently used.

But I guess when you're a wizard, you _are_ the weapon.

We made our way over the hills, until Penny's spell finally brought us to a low valley. There was nothing in sight in any direction, save for a small stone cottage in the middle of a field. A low stone wall surrounded it, enclosing a moderately sized yard. There were the remnants of a wooden fence further out, and some small paddocks that had worn down over time.

Penny pointed to the cottage. "He's there," she said, her voice laced with hope and worry.

Our party quickly headed down the slope and across the field. I found myself looking around, suddenly self-conscious about traversing the valley in plain sight. It didn't make sense, because there was no-one out there.

But the uneasy feeling had returned to my gut, and I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched.

When we reached the low stone wall, Moretti held a hand up, bringing everyone to a halt.

"There's something here…" he said, looking into the yard. I looked as well, and frowned as I saw odd colors strewn about.

There wasn't much to the space; the turf was mostly wild grass and weeds, with stones jutting up unevenly here and there. The cottage looked like it hadn't been used in decades, if not longer. It definitely predated electricity, or whoever had built it hadn't seen the need to run lines out across the hills. The windows were hollow, and the front door was missing. The tile roof had collapsed several times; some holes were patches with different colored tiles, while others were covered with simple thatch-work. A few were open to the elements.

But despite the appearance of being abandoned, someone had been busy in the yard.

Thin lines of varying hues spider-webbed out from the cottage, extending all the way to the stone wall. As I looked at the interior of the wall to one side of the yard, I could see where some sort of graffiti had been painted onto the stones. The lines of color trailed back to the cottage from those, and I saw where they all disappeared into the the building, through the open windows and door.

"What is all this?" Simon asked, voicing my own question.

"It's paint!" Penny said excitedly. She stepped up to the opening in the stone wall, but didn't step through. "Master! Master, we've come for you!"

Her voice echoed in the hills, before a brief silence descended. After a long breath, a voice replied. "Penny? Is that you?" The voice originated from the cottage.

"Yes! I'm here with some others! We've been looking for you!"

"Don't enter the yard!" the other voice shouted in return. It was an older voice, one that sounded weary and pained, but hopeful at the same time. "Give me a moment, dear!"

We waited, a short period of time passing while nothing happened. But apparently Argondian did whatever needed doing, because he eventually called out, "Alright, come in! But don't step on any of the lines!"

The six of us made our way across the yard, carefully avoiding the paint. It grew difficult the further we went, as the dozens of lines that had been spread about all condensed near the entrance of the cottage. One by one we hopped over the threshold, avoiding the paint that curved around to one side of the room.

When I entered, I looked about. There wasn't much to it. The cottage was nothing more than a single room of moderate size. Everything had been stripped from it a long time ago, leaving it bare.

Bare, save for more paint on the walls, floor, and ceiling. The place was a gallery of graffiti, although the words and symbols marked everywhere made little sense to me.

"Come in, come in!" the man in the corner said excitedly. The wrinkles in his face were hard to tell apart from the laugh lines he'd earned over the years. He smiled as he saw us, a familiar expression by the looks of it. His eyes practically glowed with pride when he looked at Penny, who was busy trying to hold back tears of joy.

I looked around, but saw no trace of the other missing wizard, who the others had called Sidorenko.

"Is that everyone?" he asked, looking us over. When we nodded, he touched one of the lines of paint near his left hand, and mumbled a word beneath his breath. I waited for something to happen, but as far as I could tell, it never did.

"Right, then," he said, sitting up as he held one hand to his gut. "Let's see who came to help old Reon Argondian." Penny crouched by his side while the wizard glanced at each of us. It gave me a chance to study him as well.

He looked to be in his sixties, perhaps even older than that. From what I knew of wizard aging, though, he could have been anywhere from a hundred years old to five hundred. His hair was long and gray, a wild mane about his head that was only somewhat reigned in by the flat artist cap he wore. His beard matched his hair, both in color and style, and hung down to the top of his chest.

Unlike the others, who were all dressed in contemporary clothing, the old wizard had chosen an eclectic wardrobe. A bright lilac dress shirt with a massive collar and loud pattern was partially covered by a blue satin dinner jacket. His pants were matching, and comfortable brown leather shoes that came to a point completed his ensemble. He wouldn't have been out of place in a Parisian cafe, although his accent might have been leading me in that direction to begin with.

"Well, well," the man said with delight in his voice as he spotted Anya. "Excellent. You have brought me someone to make my passing pleasant!"

"What?" Anya said, stunned, even as Penny slapped Argondian's arm. "Master, stop!"

"I am old, my dear," the man said to Anya, a defeated smile spreading across his lips. "But should I be so fortunate as to have such a beauty shepherd me from this world, I shall spend my days in the great beyond feeling no regret for the life un-lived."

"Did he just proposition me?" Anya whispered to me out of the corner of her mouth.

"Master, please," Penny said as she removed his palm from the wound in his gut. His had was covered in dried blood, and his shirt was stuck fast to his skin. "Let me look at you."

"Oh, thank you, sweet Penelope," the geezer said, a soft and caring smile replacing the former. "You have always looked out for me." I saw his hand pat at the young girl's leg, stroking her thigh fondly, if not quite grandfatherly.

"Hold still," the girl said as she peeled his shirt back from the wound. A sickly sound carried across the room as the dried blood tried to hold fast to him, and the old man winced as Penny went about her work. When she'd exposed the wound, she gave a tutting sound and held her wooden staff to his stomach.

When the crystal was pressed to the wound, the girl's mouth started moving silently. A glow emanated forth as power passed through it. Green leaves sprung from the different woods of the staff, before each crumpled and fell away, as if going through the seasons in but a moment.

The old man howled in pain, his face taking on a fierce grimace. All of us flinched in sympathy, until he motioned toward Anya. "Come, dear enchantress. If you would be willing, I would have you kiss away this pain with your sweet embrace."

"Ugh," Anya said, her shoulders shivering. "I can't believe we came to rescue some lecherous old man."

The bushy gray eyebrows over said lecherous man's bright blue eyes waggled suggestively. "Don't underestimate the experienced, my white dove of passion. I think I could show you a thing or two."

In response, Anya tugged the zipper of her leather jacket all the way up.

"Master, please stop," Penny said softly, her voice strained. "Your injuries are bad."

"Ah, well," he said, the hand not still stroking her leg raising to drape across his forehead. "Farewell, fair cruelty! Methinks I feel this youth's perfections with an invisible and subtle stealth, to creep in at mine eyes," the man said, his gaze drifting up and down Anya.

"Oh, there's creep alright," the punky vampire muttered.

"You're quoting out of context," Penny huffed at the old lecher.

"Master Argondian," Nelson finally said, kneeling before the man. "We've come to find you. Can you tell us what happened?"

The man frowned, as if the bald wizard had ruined his fun. Or maybe it was just because he was impeding his view of Anya. "Well met, young Nelson. I will tell you what I know, if you would but slide to your right a pace…" He licked his lips, the act not entirely as creepy as it sounds. "If I am to take my last breath on this earth, I shall wish it to accompany such a sight, rather than your own," he said, looking up adoringly at Anya's scowling face.

Nelson sighed, but did as the man asked. Anya just growled.

"Ah, thank you young man," Argondian said, settling back. The grimace returned briefly, genuine this time, as Penny worked her magic. Part of me realized that the man's behavior was an act, meant to disarm and distract us from his condition. He really did look to be in rough shape, and there was a significant amount of blood on the floor to one side.

"Now, as to how I found myself in such circumstances," the man said, smiling wanly through the pain. "Good Andrés received orders to assemble a team to find Warden Salvago."

"We know that much," Nelson said, cutting off what was sure to be a grand tale of Peña's team selection. "We know the four of you found him, and there was a battle. We know he escaped, and then came at you again."

"Yes, yes," Argondian said, his eyes going distant. "We met him… what? Two days ago? Three? I can't recall." He grunted as the crystal atop Penny's staff flashed for a moment. "He refused to come with us, and we were forced to try and take him."

"I thought your orders were to kill him on sight?" Moretti asked, frowning.

"Ah, someone has been talking to dear Vaccaro," the old wizard said with a slight smile. "Yes, our orders were to kill Yannis. But some of us have known him for many years. Too many years to not try our hand at resolving things peacefully."

"But the order came from Captain Luccio herself," Moretti said with a scowl.

"Ah, the dear Captain," the lecher said, the glint returning to his eyes. "I must say, the loss of the swords might well be worth seeing such a mind in such a body again."

"Focus, Master," Penny muttered as she worked.

"Right, of course," the man said, clearing his throat. "Well, perhaps you don't know, but Katya and Andrés worked with Yannis for years. All three hunted Kemmler and his disciples together. You don't give up on such a friend for marching orders alone. Even if they come from the delectable Captain Luccio." His eyebrows waggled suggestively, and I wondered who he was talking about, and what it had to do with swords.

"So you tried to take him alive," Nelson said, bringing the man back on track.

"Yes, well, Somboon had no such conflict of interest. I don't think he ever liked Yannis. When the man refused to come, Somboon did not hesitate."

"He attacked him?" I asked. The wizard frowned at me, as if noticing my presence for the first time, despite the fact I'd been standing beside Anya since we'd entered. "Was Somboon the one that wounded him?"

"Here now, who was there?" the man said smartly. "Was it you? Or myself?"

I snapped my lips shut and clenched my jaw.

"Yes, Somboon attacked Yannis," Argondian confirmed with a nod. "But no, he did not injure him. That was later. Andrés got close enough to stab him with that sword of his."

"What happened next?" Nelson pressed.

"Yannis got away," the old wizard said, smiling sheepishly. "He knew the terrain, and Katya and Andrés' hearts weren't really in it. Even after what happened with Somboon."

I wanted to ask what he meant by that, but Nelson spoke first. "We know that a Hound of Hades was sent to… shepherd him." Argondian's eyes narrowed at that. "We know that he somehow turned the Hound into his servant."

"That explains it," Argondian said, nodding. "A Hound of Hades, yes?" Nelson nodded. "Of course, of course. That explains what I saw."

"And what was that?" Simon asked.

Argondian looked to him, and then continued. "We had found him late in the day. I thought perhaps Andrés' attack might have finished him, but he surprised us later that evening when he returned, with the Hound at his side.

"We weren't expecting it," he said softly. "Andrés fell to the beast, and I to Yannis' spear," he added, looking pointedly at his gut. "He left me for dead, and went after Katya. I barely escaped the Hound when it came for me, and made it to this cottage. I've been here ever since."

"What about Somboon?" Nelson asked.

Argondian gave him a queer look. "What about him?"

"Wasn't he with you?"

"No, dear boy," the gray-haired wizard said. "Somboon was killed in our first encounter with Yannis."

I opened my mouth, confused. The others had similar reactions.

"That can't be right," Nelson said. "We saw Somboon this morning."

"You must be mistaken," Argondian said, frowning. "Yannis snapped his neck, using that old wind trick of his."

The rest of us looked amongst ourselves. "No, master, he's right," Penny said. "Somboon ambushed Rai and I when we went to check on Woody and Anya," she said, shooting a glance at us. "Rai stayed to fight him while I reached them, but he… Somboon…"

"Somboon defeated Rai, and took him to Salvago and Peña," Nelson finished softly.

Argondian was shaking his head slowly. "Impossible."

"Master, we saw him."

"No," Argondian said, almost apologetic. "I don't mean just Somboon. I mean what you say is impossible, because I saw the Hound kill Andrés as well." He shook his head slowly. "I saw it take his spirit right from his body."

The hairs on my neck stood up at his words.

"But we saw him," Simon insisted, looking around. "We fought him. Hell, he almost _killed_ me."

"Shit," I said, causing everyone to look to me. "Don't you see? It's the Hound. Using the Hound has given him control over life and death." I took a step forward as I looked down at Nelson. "We saw him raising all of those zombies. He's clearly got power over them. He's probably done the same to—"

My words cut off when something hit my chest, flinging me backward.

I hit the wall, even as my world spun. My vision wavered, as the forms of the others blurred with the paints surrounding us. I fell, twisting around as pain blossomed in my left shoulder.

My ears were ringing with the sound of my pulse, but I could make out the sound of the others shouting.

"Katya!" Argondian said. "Everyone away from the windows!"

"Where is she?!" Simon shouted as he dove down. The others were all likewise crawling across the floor, taking shelter where they could.

Anya scrambled over to me, her face twisted with worry. "Woody! Woody, stay with me!"

"S'fine," I slurred, as my forehead broke out into a sweat. "Balaur… leather…" I tapped my shoulder where the round had hit me, to indicate the spellworked leather made from the durable hide of a dragon. The leather that had stopped teeth and blade countless times in the few years I'd had it, saving my life Gods knows how many times.

I winced in pain when I tapped the jacket, and as I drew it away, saw my fingers covered in blood.

"Oh shit," I managed to say, as my blood began to pool beneath me.

Before I could gather my thoughts, a whistling sound cut through everything else, and then the cottage seemed to explode around us.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The stone walls of the ancient cottage shook as light and sound washed over us. Dust and debris drifted down from the patchwork ceiling, clouding my vision of the single room. My ears hurt from the cacophony of sound, but I could still hear the others.

"The wards held!" Argondian shouted. "Moretti, reinforce them!"

"What the hell was that?!" Simon shouted as something slugged into the side of the cottage. Some of the stones along the front wall seemed to buckle from the blow.

"It's Katya!" Argondian repeated. "She's using her enchanted rounds!"

"So she's sided with Salvago, too?!"

"Woody! Woody!" Anya shouted, trying to make me focus my eyes.

"Incoming," Moretti said calmly. A second later, another wall of light and sound hit, brightening the windows and door. The entire cottage reverberated with the pressure of the attack, and more of the roof fell.

"I can't see her!" Simon shouted, right before he shrunk back from the window as a spiderweb of light crackled in the threshold.

"Stay away from the windows!" Argondian repeated. "Katya has spell-breaker rounds that can punch through my wards! That first one got through!"

His words were punctuated by a series of shots striking the windows and doors, more spiderwebs of light appearing as each bullet struck, trying to punch its way into the room.

"They're holding," Moretti said, a slight strain to his voice as he held one hand aloft. Whatever he was doing seemed to have strengthened the wards Argondian had put into place. "But not for long."

"Let me know if another Arcane round is inbound," Argondian said with a pained breath. "I'll put more into the wards."

"Woody!"

"Which one is the Arcane round?" Moretti asked.

"The one you warned us about before!" Argondian shouted, even as the wall behind him shook as more magically enchanted bullets tried to break through the stone.

"I wasn't warning you about the bullet," Moretti corrected him. "I was talking about those two."

Nelson was crouched in one corner beside a window, and dared to sneak a peak out. He was quick, but only a second after he pulled his head back, another crack sounded against the ward in the window.

"Peña and Somboon are coming on foot," he announced to everyone.

"Are they still outside the stone wall?" Argondian asked, his voice panicked.

"Yes," Nelson replied. "But they're coming fast. Somboon especially."

I thought back on the Thai warrior from the graveyard, and his quick movements that seemed enhanced by magic. He'd looked a little bit like an azure version of the Flash, as the static electricity had rippled across his legs as he ran.

"Woody, please," Anya begged, and I finally realized she was trying to help me.

"I'm okay," I said, even though clearly I wasn't.

"You need to meditate so you can heal," she said urgently, her head ducking against me as another of those Arcane bullets shook the cottage, the explosion of sound something akin to artillery shells. The pulse that accompanied their arrival seemed to ripple through me. The walls seemed to shift as well, and I wondered how much longer they'd last.

"Need to get… the bullet out," I wheezed out. My skin felt clammy, and when I moved slightly, I could feel the pool of blood squishing beneath me.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Anya asked.

Before I could think of something, Moretti was there. He pressed down on my chest with his right hand while holding the metal one above my wound. "This is going to hurt."

A second later, his power thrummed. The metal zippers on my jacket all lurched up at once, just as the metal bullet in my shoulder was wrenched out of my body by a powerful magnetic field.

I might have screamed.

"It's out," Moretti said, dropping the slug onto my chest before moving back toward the front.

"Okay, Woody, meditate," Anya insisted in my ear, even as she unzipped her jacket.

I wanted to, but seeing the leather coat lurch up under Moretti's power had given me a better view of where the bullet had struck me. The zipper on the left breast pocket had tugged up, showing the hole that had pierced the pocket there.

The pocket where I kept Sal's wooden box.

"Sal!" I screamed, my voice panicked as another Arcane shell hit the cottage. I reached for my pocket, and felt where the snakewood box had shattered under the force of the bullet. "Sal!"

"He's here!" Anya yelled, her own tone urgent as she tried to bring me back from the edge of full-blown panic. "He's here!"

I managed to look up at her, and saw where the little guy was perched on her shoulder. A trill escaped his wedged head as he looked down at me. He was covered in blood, but he seemed to be okay. I realized it wasn't his blood but mine, and felt somewhat relieved. He was okay.

It seemed I was not.

"Woody, meditate," Anya urged me.

"Somboon's approaching the wall!" Nelson shouted, having shifted positions so that he looked out the other side of the window.

"Tell me when he's there," Argondian said.

I started going through the mantra my friend Olivia had taught me, trying to put myself into a state of meditation. At the same time, I concentrated on an image of the apple seed, the object I associated with my healing. I felt Anya unzip my jacket and tug my shirt up. Her own jacket was unzipped, and she pressed herself down against me, trying to maximize our skin-to-skin contact. That had always seemed to help.

"Now!" Nelson shouted.

Before he finished saying the word, an explosion sounded outside that completely broke my concentration, right as Anya kissed me and began feeding.

The pain went away for a second as a feeling of bliss washed over me. I moaned in relief, but it was short lived. In an instant the pain came rushing back, as did the chaotic sounds of battle around me.

"Woody, _meditate!_ " Anya shouted, her voice cracking. She'd stopped feeding when she'd realized I wasn't meditating. My head swam from blood loss and the emotional whirlwind.

"That took care of him," Simon said. "He's down, but not out. Peña is holding off— shit!" he cursed as a quick staccato of rounds pounded against the warded window and wall he was standing beside. "How is she that fast with a rifle?!"

Nelson slid across the room to my side, sitting opposite of Anya. "What are you talking about? Meditation?"

"He needs to meditate, but he's in shock!" Anya shouted, even as another explosion rocked the cottage. A section of roof collapsed over where Penny and Argondian were situated, and I heard them coughing.

I felt movement at my side, and then Nelson's head was beside mine. I could feel his breath on my ear as he began chanting. His left hand held my right, and I felt him wrap his bead bracelet around my wrist. His chant continued, a soothing sound that seemed to make all the other sounds disappear.

With the world fading away, I concentrated on my own mantra, and then Anya was kissing me. Whatever remained of the pain disappeared, and I was floating on a sea of pleasure. My vision went white—

— as I stared up at a midsummer sun at noon. I lifted a hand to shield my eyes, and it helped somewhat. I blinked away the glare from the light, and tried to look around at the clearing I found myself standing in.

It was a pleasant enough place. The sky was blue, the clouds white and puffy. The grass was the greenest green I'd ever seen, and there were flowers there made with colors I'd never imagined could exist.

I was naked, which didn't seem right. I could feel dirt beneath my feet, and I looked down to see I was standing on a path. There was grass to either side, and as I looked up—

—an explosion rocked the cottage, causing part of the wall to collapse. Anya pulled away from me, gasping, leaving her bare chest heaving. Her eyes were pure platinum, and she shuddered with pleasure.

I blinked away my confusion and waved away the cloud of dust that had enveloped me as the stone around us crumbled. It didn't even occur to me that I shouldn't be able to move that arm, on account of the bullet hole in my chest. But since that seemed to be gone, it didn't really matter, did it?

"Whoa, settle down," Nelson said beside me.

"I'm fine," I told him, sounding much more sure of it this time. I sat up, and he blinked in surprise.

"—now," Moretti was saying. He stood behind one section of the front wall, between the door and a window. His left arm was lifted, the glove removed to reveal the metal hand as he faced it outward.

Another thrum sounded, and then the constant barrage of bullets striking the cottage finally ended. A distant boom sounded, but it was nowhere near us.

"Can you hold it?" Argondian asked, looking to him.

"… for now," the man said, a grim look of determination on his face. "But I have to concentrate. Which means I won't be of much use if they come in here."

"We'll handle them," Simon said, shuffling to his feet. I saw him roll his shoulders, and look to Nelson, who nodded. The bald wizard still seemed a little surprised at my condition.

"I'll help," I said, standing up. The others all looked to me, their eyes widening. Even Moretti blinked, which broke his concentration for just a second. A bullet struck the cottage, and he turned away, frowning as he returned his attention to his task.

"How?" Penny asked, looking fatigued from working on Argondian. The wizard himself looked much better, if not fully whole. His eyes were narrowed as he looked between me and the vampire, any playfulness gone.

"Don't worry about that now," I said. "What's our situation?"

"Moretti is casting a magneto-kinetic shield to stop the bullets outside the wall," Argondian said, finally tearing his eyes away from Anya's heaving chest. It seemed that whatever interest he held in my recovery had only momentarily broken through his perverted ways, and he'd taken the opportunity to get an eye-full while he could. "But we've still got Somboon and Andrés to deal with."

"Somboon isn't looking too hot," Simon said. "Between that explosion, and Penny's attack earlier, I'd say he's just about had the worst day of his life."

Argondian glanced at his apprentice, clearly interested in hearing more, but there wasn't time.

"Alright," Nelson said. "Serg, can you shield us on the move? Long enough to get back to the vehicles?"

Moretti hesitated only a moment before nodding.

"Good." Nelson turned to Simon. "Sy, you've got Somboon. I'll take Peña. Woody, Anya," he said, turning to us. Anya was just standing, having finished zipping up her jacket. "If you guys can support us, then Penny will be in charge of getting Argondian out, and we'll break for the vehicles as soon as they're clear."

Elegant it wasn't, but it was the only plan we had. The rest of us nodded, and prepared to head out.

"I'll go against Peña," I told Anya. "You help Simon with Somboon." I wasn't sure what help I'd be against a wizard of Peña's caliber, but I figured Anya's speed and strength might be able to counter the Somboon's enhanced speed.

"Alright," she said with a nod, casting a worried glance at my blood-soaked shoulder. "Be careful."

"You too," I told her as I zipped up my own jacket. "Sal, stick with her, and take it easy" I added to the little guy on her shoulder. He nodded, and remained in his smaller size. He'd recuperated a lot from his encounter with the Hound, but I didn't want him risking it.

As I got ready for a fight, I cursed myself for leaving my helmet and mask in my bag in the back of the truck. Traipsing across the island with them had seemed bothersome, but now I was regretting that decision. At least I had my gloves and a few of my weapons. I drew the two foot length of steel from the sheath on my back and braced myself. My legs were practically shaking from the adrenaline rush of Anya's feeding and my healing session.

Everyone moved to the door, and then the fight was on.

Simon and Nelson were the first out the door, each with an arm raised defensively. Simon had his left up, while Nelson had his right out as if to ward off evil.

It was probably a good thing they went first. Because as soon as they were in sight, Somboon and Peña were running into the yard, their hands raised to cast spells.

The Thai wizard thrust his right hand forward, and a bolt of lightning shot out in front of him, aimed at Simon. The wizard kept his left hand up, but also raised his right as his thumb worked the rings on his glove. In a flash, the lightning struck an invisible wall in front of the younger wizard, before breaking through. The bolt licked forward like one of those glass plasma globes, only a dozen times thicker and dangerous.

I watched as the lightning struck Simon's right palm, and the guy flinched as it impacted. But rather than simply dying like I would have, I watched as he instead curled his fingers around the crackling energy, before it dissipated in his grasp, much like a certain green Jedi had done.

I'd never been so jealous in all my life.

While Simon was busy recovering from that attack, Nelson was dealing with Peña's earth-based assault. All of those stones I'd seen scattered about the ancient yard were suddenly hurtling at the bald wizard. A few simply rolled across the ground like high-speed bowling balls, but the majority of them came on like Major League fastballs.

The staff in Nelson's hands twirled back and forth, weaving through the air faster than I could believe. It spun about, seeming to blur as the wizard advanced. At first I wasn't sure what it was supposed to be doing. Peña was still a dozen yards away, and there was no way he could stop all of the projectiles with just the weapon.

But I was most assuredly wrong.

As the first stone approached, a half sphere of white light appeared in its path, striking the stone away. It shot out to one side, as did the next dozen, each met with its own small shield of energy that formed just as the staff ends snapped around their position. It was as if the staff were a baseball bat that could hit any ball within yards of it, the spins of the wooden rod mirroring half a dozen invisible quarterstaves made of pure power.

When the last was deflected, Nelson rotated at the waist and thrust forward with the tip of his staff. A white half-dome of energy appeared as it struck Peña in the stomach, sending him flying back before he'd closed within five yards of the staff.

Not giving an inch, the rest of us charged forward, hoping to catch the more experienced wardens off-guard.

Anya was gone in a flash, the Desert Eagle in her left hand firing while she closed on Somboon. The wizard was forced to shield himself in a sphere of electrical energy, much as he had in the graveyard.

But Simon was ready for that. After thrusting his right palm out straight, the wizard curled his fingers into a grabbing motion before wrenching his hand back. As he did, the wall of lightning crackled and split, the energy drawn toward his gloved hand.

It didn't break down completely, but there were enough fissures to allow a few of Anya's shots to break through. The bare-chested and badly burned Thai wizard shook as the rounds tore through his body, and he dropped to one knee as Anya leapt at him, her sword raised for a killing stroke.

I didn't have time to watch what happened, as my own battle finally began. Peña quickly regained his footing after the blow Nelson had given him. His left arm shot out, still holding the gnarled staff of wood. But this time his spell caused a series of earthen spikes to shoot up from the ground right in Nelson's path. The bald wizard barely skidded to halt before he impaled himself on them. But the spikes hadn't formed in front of me, and I quite suddenly found myself facing the massive warden one-on-one.

" _Anda-ehtë_ ," I hissed, holding the two foot rod out to one side as I ran. At the spoken command, another foot of engraved steel shot out on the pommel end, while a slim foot-long blade snapped from the other. A small guard followed the spearhead out, and a grin graced my lips as I closed on the wizard, issuing a second command. " _Saiwa-nasta_."

As I swung the blade around toward the warden, the staff thrusting forward, the spearhead began to glow red-hot. Q and I had spent a lot of time and effort putting the spear together, lacing it with several metals and numerous spells. A swartalf crafter my roommate knew did the finer work for us, so that the spells spell drew power _through_ me, not _from_ me. I had no magical ability myself, but I could cast spells that others had prepared, and the staff would pull the necessary power from the world around me.

I heard a warning shout behind me, but didn't hear what was said. My concentration was on the warden, who was swinging his own blade down at mine. The two weapons crashed together, a clarion bell ringing across the field as they met.

I think Peña's eyes might have widened as I successfully blocked his attack. Not giving him time to recover, I twisted the spear in my grip, allowing the small guard high up to catch on the edge of the warden's blade, turning it away. With a twist of my body, I was inside his guard, pushing the sword away as the pommel turned toward him. The warden began raising his left hand, the gnarled staff no doubt preparing to unleash something particularly nasty at me.

Which is why I hissed another command, " _Saiwa-talma_ ," that turned the rounded pommel at the end of the spear into a red-hot brand. It struck the Warden in the knuckles of his left hand, burning his skin upon contact. The pain was enough to make him lose grip on the short staff, and he reeled backward, caught off guard by the sudden ferocity of my attack.

Peña might have been an experienced Warden, but he'd clearly underestimated me. And you should never underestimate someone that's been trained by a goblin in physical combat.

Not letting up, I pushed out with the blade, keeping his sword engaged. I let the spearhead slide a little bit further down the blade, allowing me enough room to snap the pommel at the warden's head. The red-hot steel smashed into the side of his face, the sound of sizzling skin accompanying the sudden stench of burnt meat.

The man's mouth opened to scream, but no sound came forth.

Before he could recover, I pulled back slightly, and then drove the pommel into his throat. His head snapped down and his eyes bulged as pain rocked him. His grip on his sword wavered, and as soon as I felt it falling away from my own blade, I pivoted, the swing of the blazing steel preparing to take his head off.

It should have been a killing blow. Instead, the man sunk down, impossibly fast, and the blade swept a few millimeters over his head. My eyes widened, as there was no way he could have knelt that quickly.

After another moment, I realized he hadn't.

The earth mage had made the ground beneath his feet dip low, a sinkhole appearing out of nowhere. All the earth that went missing below him was suddenly thrusting up from under me, and I found myself wobbling on a column of dirt and mud that propelled me into the air.

The wave of earth beneath me shifted, and I fell backwards, sliding off the back. I landed with a thud, and looked up just as the mound began to topple toward me. I pulled my spear tight to me as I rolled, and only barely managed to skid out of the way before a metric ton of soil crashed down with a resounding boom.

Nelson was already running past, and I lost sight of him as I pushed myself up. I was facing the others, and took a second to see how they were doing.

Penny was leading Argondian out, the old wizard limping along with an arm around the girl. Moretti was beside them, although his attention was elsewhere, focused on keeping the shield up. The occasional boom from an Arcane round exploding in mid-air washed over the sounds of combat.

Anya was down on her knees, cradling her hands in front of her. Smoke drifted from her forearms, and it looked like her fingers were burned and blackened. I noted that one of her swords was shattered into pieces beside her. Sal had leapt to the ground and grown in size, taking a defensive stance between her and the Thai wizard.

Simon had taken up the fight against Somboon, but was having trouble countering his Thai dha sword. The younger wizard had pulled a shield and war-hammer seemingly out of thin air, the materials of which looked oddly opalescent. There was an unearthly quality to them, and it was hard to place exactly what type of metal they were made from. To be honest, they didn't look like metal at all.

Somboon swiped his sword down at Simon, and the wizard had to back away as the weapon tore through his shield as if it weren't there. The bottom half of it simply sloughed off, and by the time it hit the ground, it was nothing more than a formless pile of goo.

Another swing of the sword destroyed the odd war-hammer, but Simon thrust his left hand forward again, and a pop sounded as Somboon was thrown backwards when the air burst between them.

Whatever the spell had been, it had a similar effect on Simon, but at least he was expecting it. He rolled across his back, and came up in a crouch. As he did, I saw something flow from his sleeve into his right hand. The liquid substance seemed to take shape in his grasp. By the time Simon had finished moving, he held an assault rifle in his hands, and the quick staccato of rapid fire sounded across the clearing.

The rounds tore into Somboon, devastating his already damaged body. He fell to the ground, and after only a moment, fell still.

The exchange had been fast, taking no more than a couple of seconds. But seeing Somboon go down caused me to remember my own fight. I spun around, looking for Nelson, and saw him take a boot to the chest. The wizard rolled with the kick, but wasn't ready to block the downward swing from Peña's blade.

My quickly thrown spear took the old Warden in his left side. The red-hot blade punched into his stomach with surprising force, causing him to spin to one side. His swing was thrown wide, narrowly missing the bald wizard.

Nelson was already on his feet, his staff held before him. Peña wrenched the spear from his side as he staggered backward. His arm drew back as if he were going to hurl it at Nelson, but I thrust my right hand forward and shouted another command. " _Pel-forma!_ "

The words triggered the summoning spell laid into the spear. A silver ring adorned each of my ring fingers, crafted in the same swartalf forge as the spear itself. The three were bonded together, and with the command, a spell shot out, pulling the spear back to the ring on my right hand.

The weapon slipped from Peña's grip, spinning in the air as it headed toward me. I caught it as I started forward, and the warden's eyes narrowed as he looked around, sensing the tide had turned against him.

The earth mage moved his left arm in a sweeping motion, and a half dome of clay formed around him, shielding him from both Nelson and myself. Our advance slowed, and then a rumbling sound shook the ground around us. We both rounded the protective earthen shield to see Peña as he slid away, the turf beneath him rolling as if it were a conveyor belt.

I saw that he'd retrieved his gnarled staff, and the wizard looked back at us with a slack and emotionless face as his spell carried him away. The man didn't even have to run; the ground itself transported him to safety.

A rumbling to one side drew my attention, and I saw two more stretches of rolling land. The first carried Somboon out of the yard, and the second, smaller wave carried his sword. The two were whisked away, moving faster than we could run.

I started after them anyway, but Nelson grabbed my arm. "No. The shield," he said, gesturing outward.

I nodded, and let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. If I'd given pursuit, I likely would have run out of the protective barrier Moretti had made to protect us from the sniper fire. Instead of trying to finish the fight, I was left to watch the wardens escape.

"Let's make for the vehicles," Nelson said as the others joined us. I went to Anya's side, and wrapped an arm around her as she stumbled on her feet, her hands in ruins. Sal had returned to his normal size and crawled up onto my shoulder, since his box and normal pocket were ruined.

Together we fled, surrounded by wizards, the Arcane rounds bursting overhead until we rounded the hills, where the air grew blessedly silent.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The seven of us loaded into the truck, and then we were gone, leaving the cottage far behind us.

When we'd first returned to the vehicles, we'd split between the two. But the engine of the small SUV sputtered and smoked when Moretti tried to get it started, and we were forced to cram into the farmer's vehicle.

Simon and Moretti were in the cab, and the rest of us were piled into the bed. Anya sat on my lap and sustained a mild feeding as she kissed along my neck. While fighting Somboon, she'd apparently crossed swords with him. He'd sent an electrical charge that carried across the metals, which had been enough to shatter her sword. It'd also given her electrical burns on her hands and arms. Her fingers were particularly bad, the tips blackened and bleeding pale blood.

"Will she be alright?" Nelson asked from beside us, watching as the vampire fed from me. I could tell he was curious about how I could feed her without feeling drained, but he left the question unspoken.

"She just needs some time," I assured him. I was doing my best to keep a mild state of meditation going so that her feeding wouldn't drain me.

"And you?" he asked, turning his critical eye to me.

"I'm fine," I told him, not wanting to discuss it. I knew there'd be questions, but those could wait.

The wizard sensed my hesitance, and nodded slightly before turning back to Argondian and Penny. "How is he?"

"Stable," Penny replied, sitting back as she took a break from healing the old man. Spending all that energy had clearly taken a lot out of her. "He'll need more treatment, but he'll be fine."

"Thank you, dear," the man said, his voice soft and proud. "You've done a marvelous job." The apprentice smiled, obviously pleased. But the wizard's eyes were distant, as were his thoughts. "I guess I was wrong about Somboon."

"He's dead now, either way," Nelson said, sounding somewhat relieved.

"I wouldn't count on it," I interjected. When they looked to me, I shrugged softly. "He's died several times over; doesn't seem to have slown him down."

"You think…" Nelson began, before trailing off, at a loss for words.

"I think he's just as dead as those zombies we saw Salvago raise," I said. "Argondian said his neck was snapped. I saw Rai give him a mortal wound in their fight, and Penny's attack didn't do him any favors. Anya lit him up, and then Simon shot him with… well, with whatever that was, but Peña still took the body with him."

"Necromancy," Argondian said, the word sounding like bile bubbling in his throat. "I never would have thought Yannis could do such a thing."

"There's been a lot of that the last few days," Nelson said, shooting a worried glance at the old wizard. "You should know, the White Council is hunting Donald Morgan."

"What?" the old man said, sitting up. "What for?"

"He's been accused of murder," the younger wizard said, before bracing himself. "Master LaFortier is dead."

If I'd thought the old man had been shocked before, I was wrong. I could visibly see his face pale as his mouth worked, at a loss for words. "Poor Aleron." After another moment, the man groaned softly, his eyes clenching shut. "Yannis was right."

"What?" Nelson said, surprised.

"He was right," Argondian repeated, his tone defeated. "All this, and he was right."

"Master, what are you talking about?" Penny asked, placing a hand on the old man's knee.

An hour earlier that might have elicited a lecherous waggle of the eyebrows, but now the man didn't seem to notice. He simply shook his head in dismay. "He tried to tell us. But we didn't believe him. How could we?"

"What did he tell you?" Nelson asked gently.

"He told us what he'd found," the man mumbled, his eyes vacant. "But it was too much. And yet…"

Nelson looked like he wanted to press, but he held back. The old wizard simply stared off at the landscape retreating behind the truck, the shocks bouncing all of us gently as we went.

Finally, the man seemed to gather his thoughts. "When we first received the orders to kill Yannis, we knew something was wrong," Argondian said. "That type of thing just isn't done. But with the Captain's signature on the paperwork, there wasn't much to dispute.

"When we found him, we tried to speak with him; tried to determine what he might have done to draw a death sentence. But when we told him about it, he spun a wild tale." Argondian shook his head. "Perhaps not so wild after all."

"What tale?" Penny asked.

The old wizard sighed, gathering his thoughts. "Yannis was a warden, but that wasn't what he was known for. His first love was magical theory. He researched everything, sometimes growing dangerously close to breaking the Laws."

"We know of his research on the Black Court," Nelson volunteered.

"Oh, there was that, certainly," the old wizard said. "But it wasn't just the vampires. Studying them was Petrovich's area. No, Yannis dabbled in everything. When he was hunting the necromancers during the Second War, he studied what he found. He studied their magics, to better understand them, to anticipate and counter their spells." Argondian's frown deepened. "But he never crossed the line. Never went too far."

I shared a glance with Anya, who was now sitting up. Her hands were healed, and she'd taken a break from feeding. Her eyes looked troubled, and I could understand why.

The man we'd seen in the graveyard hadn't just crossed the line; he'd wiped it away as he leapt over it.

"Research was his strength," Argondian said. "But after what happened at Archangel, he had to take an active role in the war with the Reds. If he hadn't stepped down after they killed Kemmler, he likely would have died with the rest of the Brute Squad."

"But I heard that he'd left the Council," Nelson said with a frown. "That he'd abandoned us."

" _No_ ,"the old man said, his voice firm as he shot a hard look at Nelson. "Not abandoned. Not Yannis. He's done more to hurt the Reds than anyone, save perhaps Morgan and McCoy."

"Then why was he here?" Penny asked.

Argondian took a moment to look for the right words. "After the failed Darkhallow in Chicago, Yannis became obsessed with the idea that there was a traitor on the Council."

My eyes might have widened at that, but I wasn't about to say anything, for fear of them remembering that I was there.

"He confronted the Merlin about it, but Arthur denied the possibility." Argondian sighed. "Apparently he fought with McCoy as well. Neither was willing to openly admit there might be someone working against the Council. And so Yannis left. So that he could concentrate on rooting out the traitor."

"And he did, didn't he?" Nelson said, his voice a whisper barely caught on the winds buffering us in the back of the truck. "That's what he told you."

"Not just us," Argondian said, looking at him. "He found evidence, and sent it to the one man he trusted on the Senior Council."

"Aleron LaFortier."

Argondian nodded. "He sent the information the day before the order came down to execute him," Argondian confirmed.

"But how did the traitor learn of it?" Penny said. "It obviously wasn't Master LaFortier."

"I'm not sure," the old man admitted. "But Yannis said that someone was using dark magics on the Council members. Even against the Senior Council, making them pliable. He said he found traces within himself, and others he secretly worked with. Something that would allow the traitor to manipulate others, bend them to their will."

"But that's impossible," Nelson said. "Someone using mind magic on the Senior Council? The wardens? There's no way—"

"—that someone could control them?" Argondian finished, an eyebrow quirked upward. "Could make them fight each other, perhaps? To turn them against what they've sworn?"

His words hit like a ton of bricks.

"Peña," Penny whispered. "And Somboon."

"Katya, too, it would seem," Argondian said. "He's using something to make them fight for him. Perhaps it's this thing he discovered."

"But if he's right—"

"Then whoever the traitor was would want to silence him," Argondian said with a pained grimace. "Which means that those who knew had to die."

We rode in silence for a minute, before Nelson shook his head in disbelief. "Could it really be Morgan?"

Argondian sighed, a heavy sound conveying the depths of his worries. "Three days ago, I would have said no. But now? Knowing what we know?"

"Perhaps he was forced," Penny suggested. "Maybe the traitor forced him to, like Salvago is forcing the others?"

"Perhaps," Argondian admitted. "I just… I just can't wrap my head around someone manipulating old goats like that."

Nelson blinked. "What do you mean?"

Argondian smiled, a self-depreciating smile that masked his pain. "When you're as old as we are, the mind becomes set in its ways. I could see where someone might have been able to nudge Morgan. Make him pliable, as Yannis described. But force him to kill LaFortier? Or force Peña and Somboon to try and kill us?" He shook his head. "The more I learn, the more I fear I know nothing."

A rap on the cab window drew our attention, and we saw Simon gesturing forward. We looked, and saw that we were approaching a town. It wasn't Avgonima, where we'd taken rooms. That had been back the other way, but we'd feared crossing back into sight of Katya the sniper. Moretti had checked the map, and found the closest town to the cottage.

As the truck lumbered into another ancient town, I sat back, and wondered when the answers would stop leading to more questions.

* * *

The first town ended up being less than a village, as was the second we passed through. Neither had accommodations for us, but directed us westward toward the coast. We eventually found our way to Koskinas, a moderately sized town with some visitor amenities. We took rooms at a proper hotel, and everyone took the opportunity to freshen up.

After rinsing off, I'd inspected the bullet wound in my shoulder. The wards on the cottage an the spell-worked leather had done enough to slow the round, preventing it from passing through. The entry wound was puckered and ugly, but it was whole. My shoulder ached, but it was more in line with a weeks old injury rather than one taken a couple hours ago. My lingering headache likely had more to do with blood-loss than anything else, but some aspirin did what it could.

I'd thankfully brought some spare underclothes, but was left wearing my black leather jeans as I walked around the hotel. My coat was hanging in the room after a thorough scrubbing, so I put on a fresh shirt before looking for some lunch.

I found a small market across the way, and used some of the cash Anya had provided to grab some food. I was on my way back to the hotel when I spotted Nelson standing outside.

"Hey," I said, coming to a stop. It was clear he was waiting for me.

"Would you mind if I picked your brain for a minute?" he asked. The request wasn't demanding; nothing about the man was assuming. If I turned him down, he'd accept it. Which is probably why I accepted.

"Sure. Let me run this stuff up to Anya."

When I got upstairs, the vampire was already asleep in bed. Sal was curled up in a ball beside the ash tray, which held the remnants of a quick meal. Part of me wanted to join them, and get what rest I could.

Instead, I joined Nelson in splitting some local cuisine. We settled at a table outside, where we had a decent view of the waterfront.

"I spoke with Master Argondian, and with Vaccaro back in Edinburgh," the bald wizard started after we'd had our fill.

"What'd they say?"

"The first priority is finding Morgan," he informed me. "There will be a full review of the Salvago situation once that Morgan's case has been resolved. Captain Luccio, the one that signed the orders, is currently involved in the search. Everyone higher up is tied up in the investigation into the murder. Wizard Peabody has at least confirmed that everything is in order for the operation. But until the Captain and the Senior Council can review what we've found, we're supposed to stand down."

"I see," I said, sipping from a regional soda. The flavor was entirely wrong, and it was depressingly warm. "Did you tell Vaccaro about what Salvago said? About the traitor?"

"No," Nelson replied with a worried frown. "Considering what happened when others shared that information, Argondian thought it best to sit on that for the time being."

"I see," I repeated. "So is that it then? You guys are just going to sit tight?"

"That's what Peabody said to do," the wizard replied, a calculating tone creeping into his voice. "His exact words to Vaccaro were 'Have the team gather and find a place to hole up'."

"Okay…" I said, trailing off. His tone seemed to suggest that he intended to do otherwise.

"Technically Peña and the others are part of Argondian's team," Nelson explained.

"Ah," I said, nodding wisely. "Well, you can't leave them behind."

"Exactly."

"So what's the plan?"

"Well, that depends on the answers to my questions," the bald man said, sitting back in his chair. The calculating look had returned to his eyes. "Master Argondian wasn't aware of your identity when he divulged sensitive information to you earlier. He thought you were a Council member he hadn't met."

I snorted at the thought of me being mistaken for a wizard. "And I suppose he thought Anya was my apprentice?"

"Honestly, he thought you'd somehow converted her to our cause," Nelson said with a shrug. "Or that's what he said. I think he was just distracted."

"By her breasts, probably," I said. Nelson chuckled, but then grew serious once more.

"Regardless, we now need to ascertain exactly who you are, and whether or not we share the same agenda."

"I want to retrieve Violet and the Hound. Alive," I added, in case there was any doubt.

"I understand that much," he said softly. "But the first thing I need to know is who you're working for."

I pursed my lips as I considered my options. While I was thinking, I pulled a cigarette from my box and lit it using the fire-starter spell on one of the silver rings. I finally settled on honesty. "Who does the Hound belong to?"

Nelson's eyes narrowed, as if he wasn't quite sure he believed the answer. "Is that the story you're going with?"

"It's the truth," I said. From a certain point of view.

"Alright," the wizard said, nodding in acceptance. "I will work under the assumption that there are authorities in charge of the beast that have hired you to reclaim their asset." Which was a long winded way of saying I was working for an ancient Greek deity that he could not confirm actually existed. "The second thing I need to know is… what are you?"

The question caught me off-guard.

"What do you mean?" I asked, frowning as I exhaled.

"I mean, I need to know who we're working with," he said as politely as possible. "You look mortal, but you seem tight with the White Court, and have a fire elemental as a familiar. I've seen you take some gruesome injuries, but you're sitting here healthy and hale. You healed almost instantly from a gunshot wound that looked like it might have nicked an artery. You let a vampire feed from you, but seem none the worse for ware.

"If that weren't enough, I've seen you wield magic, even though I don't sense any talent in you," he continued. "Practitioners can sense each other's power with a touch, but I get nothing from you. And yet I've seen you use what is clearly a magically forged weapon and cast spells with it, use a magic ring," he said, indicating the silver ring I'd just used to light the cigarette, "and I've seen you exhibit a speed and agility far superior to that of a human."

I was with him right up until the last. "Uh, what are you talking about?" When he started to seek clarification, I added, "About the speed and agility."

"I was with you when you fought against Peña," he said, as if that explained it.

"And?"

"You kept up with me," Nelson said, growing impatient for the first time. It seemed as if he thought I was being difficult, but I honestly had no idea what he was talking about.

"Yeah, I work out," I said dismissal. "I think I can keep up with a zen-master wizard in a foot race."

He gave me a flat look at that. "Oh really."

"Yeah, really."

Nelson stared at me for another minute before he spoke. "My magic isn't like most others. It's more internally focused, rather than externally projected."

"Those little force fields you were throwing around certainly looked external," I said smartly.

"A product of extensive training with my bo staff and Qigong," he said. "My talent is balanced more toward sensing energies, manipulating them subtly, and channeling the power of spirit."

"Sounds very Zen," I said. "Do you do Fung Shui too?"

"Yes," he replied, taking my joke seriously. "But as to combat, my Qigong training has taught me to infuse my body with magical energy, to increase my strength, speed, stamina, and agility."

"Sounds handy," I said with a frown, not understanding why I was getting his resume.

He waited another moment, as if giving me an opportunity to say something more. When I didn't, he frowned. There was lots of frowning going on, to say the least. "I was channeling energy into speed in that fight against Peña. A speed that you matched."

It was my turn to blink. "Well, maybe you aren't as fast as you think you are."

Nelson gave me a flat look. I tried waiting him out, but it wasn't working.

"Alright," I told him. "Several years ago I came into contact with a powerful object. One that changed me." I took a drag off the cigarette. "After that, my rate of recovery from wounds became significantly faster. Nothing miraculous, but better. A friend of mine figured out that if I meditated, if I actively tried to tap into the power within me, I could heal even faster."

"Like what I saw in the cottage?" he asked, his curiosity peeked.

"Not like that, no," I admitted. "Just somewhat improved. But then, just over a year ago, I met Anya. By accident, we found that if I put myself into a state of meditation, and she fed on me, she would feed on the source of power, rather than my life-force."

"I see," he said, tapping a finger to his lips. "And in the process…"

"She was basically pulling on that wellspring of power," I confirmed. "Which allowed me to tap into it as well. She can't consume all of it, and the rest fuels my recovery."

"That's why she needed you to be meditating in the cottage."

I nodded. "Right. Thanks for your help with that, by the way."

He waved the comment off. "So when you meditate, where do you feel this power?" he asked.

"I don't," I told him. "At least, not when I'm doing it alone. When Anya is tapping it, it kind of feels like… like it's coming from here, maybe?" I said, gesturing toward my navel.

Nelson nodded, as if he'd expected that. "The Manipura."

"The what?" I asked, looking down.

"The third Chakra," he said. "The chakra of fire. It's commonly associated with power, vitality, and physical growth."

"Olivia said something about chakras once I think," I said absently. "She's into yoga and the like."

"Yes, well, of course," Nelson said with a surprisingly good sardonic smile. "If she's into yoga, she'd certainly know."

"Hey, she's pretty good with this stuff," I told him with a smile, not wanting to add that Olivia herself, along with her younger brother, had also consumed the apple-seeds from the golden fruit. "And she's dating her yoga instructor, so together, they're like, experts or something."

"Of course," the monk-like wizard said with a solemn bow. "Perhaps your speed was tied to that."

"So what does that mean?" I asked. "I'll admit, I feel energized whenever Anya feeds deeply, but I don't know about it making me faster."

I thought back on the times when she'd fed on me. One of the first times she'd done it, I'd felt an abundance of energy. So much so that I hadn't thought twice about bursting into a room to fight several Ramps and several of their chimeras.

A similar sense had accompanied several feedings back in Chicago, when she and I had been sparring with Q. But neither of them had ever said anything about me moving faster than normal.

What made the feeding in the cottage different?

"There are ways to enhance one's physical state," Nelson said. "Drawing on such power is how I can make myself faster and stronger. I can even improve the rate of my healing, but nothing like what you've exhibited."

"It's never happened before," I insisted. "I don't have any power to tap on."

"Or perhaps there is more to it than you realize," a voice said from behind us.

We both turned to find Argondian strolling up, a neutral look on his face.

"Master Argondian?" Nelson asked, confused.

"Relax, young Nelson," the old wizard said as he sat down at the table. His bushy eyebrows rose as he watched a young lady walk past, before turning his gaze to the young man. "Mister Hayes is not trying to be difficult."

I tensed, as I didn't recall telling anyone my last name. "What?"

"Your power," the wizard said, turning to me. "Your nature. You are ignorant of both."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"My point exactly," the old man said. "Perhaps you and I will discuss that at a later time. For now, we must focus on what we are going to do about Yannis." He sent a frown my way. "But to do so, we need to know everything. Especially about this purple-haired beauty that the foul-minded Nelson here goes on about at great lengths."

"Wha- bu-" Nelson sputtered, an uncharacteristic loss of composure as the bald wizard blushed.

"Now, now, young man, there is a time and place for everything," the lecher said to the monk. "Keep your thoughts pure for the moment. No more tales of curvaceous beauties whipping you as you writhe about."

I couldn't recall the last time I'd seen anyone turn that red, but the younger wizard managed to keep his mouth shut despite his embarrassment. The elder turned to me, waggling his eyebrows mischievously where Nelson couldn't see.

"Tell us everything, Mr. Hayes. If you would."

With my first cigarette burned low, I fished out another and lit it. Once it was started, I proceeded to tell them a condensed version of events. I didn't go into detail about my relationship with Violet; they didn't need to know all that. But I told them about my debt to her, and Rose's collection of said debt in regards to the Hound.

I also explained what I'd seen with Rai. With all of us having seen the resurrected Somboon, I figured any hope that Rai needed to be alive to be of use to Salvago was long gone. Nelson paled when he found out, but I could tell he still hadn't quite given up on his apprentice.

When I'd finished, Argondian sat back, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Well?" I asked, taking a drag.

"Mr. Hayes, I must congratulate you," the old wizard said, offering me a hand. When I took it with some confusion, he pumped it enthusiastically. "To not only have bedded a lusty young succubus, but to have also added a Greek nymph to your harem… bravo, sir. Bravo."

" _What?_ " Nelson and I said simultaneously.

"Calm down, young Nelson, no need to get worked up over it," Argondian chastised. "There are other nymphs in the sea."

"But—"

"Now, Mr. Hayes," the lecher said, cutting Nelson off. "I believe our goals are in line with one another. While my first priority must be to end the threat which Yannis poses, I would not wish to see any harm done to those being used against their will. Restoring your nymph and the Hound would be preferred. But without knowing more about their condition, I am not sure what we can realistically expect."

"I fully expect to get Violet back," I assured him.

"In the name of love, I shall endeavor for the same," he said, placing a hand upon his heart. "I would hate to see young Nelson here throw himself over a cliff should we fail."

"Wha—"

"However, while you all were eating what appears to be a perfectly delectable meal without leaving any for the rest of us," Argondian continued, eying the remnants of the food, "I was speaking with the lovely young lady at the front desk. She shared this with me, at no extra charge, no doubt due to my roguish charm."

The wizard pulled a folded piece of paper from the inside of his blue velvet coat, and placed it on the table before us. Nelson and I both leaned closer to see what was on the page.

"What does it say?" Nelson asked after a moment.

"I have no idea," Argondian replied with a playful wag of his eyebrows. "It's all Greek to me."

"Holy shit," I whispered, my eyes widening as I read what looked to be English text.

"Ah," the old man said. "If you would be so kind as to share with the rest of us that have not had a fiery nymph bestow her most precious gift upon them."

The way the lecher said it made it sound so much worse than what Rose had actually done, but I was too shell-shocked to bother trying to correct him.

"This is a local police bulletin," I explained, reading it quickly. "It says that nearly two dozen graveyards were vandalized last night."

"Two _dozen?!_ " Nelson said, choking on the news.

"The police are asking locals for any information they may have," I said. "Based on what this says, they're interpreting it as a gang of grave robbers. But it looks like all the bodies were removed. They're talking hundreds of corpses, if not more. And those are only the ones they've confirmed since this was sent out… two hours ago."

"I fear Yannis has lost himself," Argondian said, his tone sobering. "In our first encounter, he was still a man, looking for help from friends. But the second time, when he came to us, something had changed. There is a darkness about him, a stark and deathly aura unlike anything I've seen since the days of Kemmler."

The wizard tapped the page. "This proves that the man I knew is gone. Yannis spent decades studying the dark arts, but never gave in to them. He is using necromancy to build an army of the dead around himself, and turning wizards into thralls, to be his enforcers."

"But why?" Nelson asked.

"If his sanity has not fled, then his morality certainly has," Argondian explained. "We watched Kemmler do this very thing countless times. What Salvago once looked upon with disgust, he now does with apparent ease. He is readying an army to defend himself for when the Council comes. As it must."

"But two dozen graveyards in a single night," Nelson said, his voice filled with disbelief.

"It didn't take them that long to raise the graveyard we saw," I reminded him. "With Violet's power helping him, it only took a few minutes. And it looked like she took all of them with her into the Ways." I pictured the narrow tunnels and the empty darkness that lay beyond the torch's sphere of light, and wondered if that was how they'd all been transported. "Traveling that way took us a while, but by our calculations, it would have seemed to have been instantaneous to anyone in the real world."

"So they can move about the island without need of transport, nor concern with being seen," Argondian surmised. "And they can do so with apparent speed."

"But only at night," I added. "Violet has never visited in the daylight, and Rose said she couldn't reach me until nightfall." Which was still hours away.

"The question is, where are they taking them?" Argondian posed. "Is there a place in the Never-never? Or is there somewhere else?"

I glanced at the bone-white ring on my finger. "I may be able to locate Violet, but I'm not sure it will work during the day."

"Then we will leave you to that, while we update the others," Argondian said. "In the meantime, we will seek to find a way of tracking Salvago directly. If we cannot, then we will be forced into a reactionary stance, one that will not succeed if we cannot match Yannis' ability to travel through the Ways."

"Maybe Rose can help with that," I said.

"Very well," Argondian said with a nod. "And let us hope that you are not wrong, and that they aren't busy recovering more of the dead as we speak. I worry that Yannis was not present at the attack at the cottage."

I'd had the same thought. Especially considering that Rose had been able to pass Anya and I back into the world without coming herself. If Yannis could raise the dead without Violet, and she could transport them back and forth to the Ways without entering the real world, then we might not be facing an undead army in the hundreds.

It might be thousands.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Argondian and Nelson went to update the others, including the oft-spoken of but never seen Vaccaro in Edinburgh, but sent Simon to help me with trying to track down Violet.

A couple hours later, we gave up.

"She must be in the Never-never," Simon concluded. I wasn't sure if he really thought that, or simply had to believe it, as there could be no other possible reason his tracking spells failed.

"Probably," I said from the bed, where I'd laid down to rest while he gave it a try. My own spells hadn't worked, but that simply could have been because I wasn't very good with them. I'd practiced over the years, but the real expert was my friend Olivia back in Chicago.

I sighed, wondering what she was up to. I'd left in such a frantic hurry that I hadn't contacted her. I was suppose to join her and Manu, her yoga instructor slash boyfriend slash annoying former college football stud, for a night out that evening. But I doubted I'd be home in time. Maybe Q had left word that I wouldn't make it.

I was also worried about my roommate, who was supposedly on his way. It'd been almost twelve hours since he'd call Anya, saying that he'd received my message and would join us on Chios. We'd left the name of the first town as a place to find us, and we figured he would call Anya back on her satellite phone if we weren't there.

But all the magic the wizards had been slinging around back at the cottage had fried the phone. I'd called and left another voicemail when we'd reached the inn, but then I'd realized that Q didn't have a satellite phone. His wouldn't be of any more use than my own flip-phone.

Anya said something about him maybe having a GSM phone, which would work. I had no clue; once the things had stopped reliably working around me, I'd given up on keeping track of what technology was what.

"If you're done playing with that ring, how about we settle our wager?" Anya said from beside me. Her head was at the foot of the bed, where she'd been watching Simon's latest attempt.

"Uh, maybe later," the young wizard said, a blush creeping into his cheeks. He absently ran a hand through his long hair, clearly nervous around the beautiful succubus.

"Fine," the punky vampire said, rolling onto her back and hanging her head upside down off the end of the bed. I smirked, noticing that her white leather jacket was halfway unzipped. The position she was in was going to be showing Nelson a tantalizing amount of skin from his position on the floor. "Until you settle up, you have to pay interest."

"How's that?" he asked, making an obvious attempt at looking anywhere but Anya's fingers, which were idly tracing along the argent tattoos on her silky smooth skin.

"Tell me about those magic weapons," she said. I perked up at that. I'd been wondering about those myself.

"You mean what I used against Somboon?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, it's complicated, but they're basically made of material from the Never-never," he explained.

"How's that?" Anya asked. I noted that she had started using both hands to trace the tattoos, and that the jacket had somehow unzipped further.

I also noted that I'd noted that, and tried to avert my own gaze.

"Well, I take it you've seen _Ghostbusters_?" he asked. I hoped he never asked that in front of Q. When Anya nodded, he continued. "They talk about ectoplasm. It's basically like that. The material that makes up the Never-never is solid over there. But once you bring it over, it collapses into goo, unless some magical force keeps its shape."

"So, you're what? Summoning that stuff over to make the weapons?"

"Yes and no," he replied. "I have vats I use to keep it viable in the real world. I normally carry some with me in small bladders, but since I figured I might be getting into some fights, I brought the backpack to store more."

That explained the hard-shell bag he'd worn. I pictured containers of slime inside.

"I've got tubes that run down my coat sleeves," he continued. "They feed the ectoplasm to my hands, where my will gives them shape."

"So can you make anything you want?" The jacket was completely unzipped now, and was beginning to slide to either side of her chest. Not that I was keeping track.

"Um, pretty much," Simon said, looking out the window.

"They didn't hold up very well, though," Anya said, her tone disappointed.

"Well, that's only because of—" he started, before coughing and looking away again when he saw what Anya was now circling with her fingertips. "Because of the warden's blade."

"Why's that?" Anya asked, her voice full of innocence. Like she didn't know exactly what she was doing to the poor guy.

But if she'd been using her power, I would have felt it. Which meant she was resorting only to her natural feminine wiles to try and seduce the young wizard.

"Warden swords are specially made," he explained, idly turning the rings on his gloves. It turned out each finger of the half-gloves had rings and wires built in, each carved with different magical symbols. The reason he was able to cast spells so quickly without command words was because those rings allowed him to create any combination of magical workings on the fly.

"Each is crafted for the individual warden," he explained of the swords. "A ton of spells go into them, making sure they can cut through any enchantment. Wards, shields, and even some enchanted armors. Magical constructs, like my weapons, and golems and such. The sword's will cut through all of them."

"Is that why my blade shattered?" Anya asked, suddenly paying attention.

"Probably," he confirmed. "Most standard weapons can't hold up against warden blades." He shot a look my way. "Which is why the others were interested in your spear."

Nelson had said something about that when we were walking back inside. Moretti had expressed an interest in studying my spear, but I told them it'd have to wait. I wasn't letting it out of my sight while there were hundreds of zombies running around. I've seen those movies.

"Woody has all the fun toys," Anya said, lifting her head to send me a scorching hot look, her eyes flashing silver. As I didn't rise to the bait, she dropped her head again. I noticed her eyes were back to their normal gray as she did. "So where can I get one of these warden blades?"

"You can't," Simon said. I assumed Anya pouted, because he quickly stammered out, "I mean, no one can. Only one person could make them, but she can't anymore."

"So the newbies are out of luck?" Anya guessed.

"Yeah. Anyone that became a warden in the last few years doesn't have one."

"Moretti has one," I commended. "But I noticed Argondian didn't."

"Argondian has been on the Council for ages, but wasn't a full warden until after the war started," he explained. "Before that, he was simply a regional commander in an area that didn't see much action. He never bothered to come in long enough for one to be made."

"Maybe I'll take Moretti's sword," Anya mused. I wasn't sure she was joking, but Simon laughed.

"Actually, his isn't officially a warden sword," he said. "He comes from a line of wizards, and they've got their own forging process. Very similar to the warden swords; almost indistinguishable, really."

"Then why don't the wardens have his family make them?"

"Uh, well…" Simon said, suddenly sounding uncomfortable. "The Moretti's aren't… I guess you could say they're not in very good standing with the Council."

"But Sergio is?" Anya asked with a snort. "If half the things I heard about him back in New York are true, I can't see how his family could be any worse."

"Serg takes some getting used to," Simon admitted. "He's been through a lot. But even if the stories you've heard were only half as bad as reality, he'd _still_ be ten times better than his family."

Anya made a doubtful noise, but didn't directly contradict the wizard. I'd never heard of Moretti before our trip. Anya hadn't mentioned much about life back in New York, and I had my own resident Wizard to avoid.

The punky vampire sat up and turned to me, meaning she turned all of her wiles in my direction at once. It was somewhat distracting. "Do you think you can get me some enchanted swords when we get back to Chicago?"

"You're from Chicago?" Simon asked excitedly, his eyes widening. "Do you know H—"

"Stop."

"What?"

"Don't say the name," I said in all seriousness.

"Why not?" Simon asked, looking confused.

"Names have power," I told the wizard that should know better. "If you say his name, you might summon him. And then our situation would get decidedly worse."

"How do you figure?" he asked, from some reason thinking I was joking. "I've heard the older wardens don't like him, but the younger guard kind of look up to him."

"I wouldn't recommend that," I said, hoping he'd drop the subject. But apparently we'd stumbled onto an interesting topic.

"What's so bad about him?"

"Did you hear he started the war you guys are in?" I asked incredulously, as if that weren't enough.

"Yeah, but for a good reason," Simon said.

"Is there ever a good reason to go to war?" I asked, really just mouthing off.

"Would you go to war for Anya?" he countered, sounding defensive of his idol.

Anya laughed. "Me? No. Violet, maybe."

I shot her a scowl, but it didn't phase her in the slightest.

"Seriously, what else has he done?" Simon pressed. "I've heard a lot of good things. About how he's helped people."

"Let's see," I said, pretending to think for a minute. "When I was seventeen, I was arrested for setting fire to a house that resulted in a death. The arrest made the local papers, which threatened the jobs of both my parents. If not for two naked people running down the street swearing a wizard did it, I'd have been in prison, and my parents would have been out of work."

"So?" Simon said.

"So guess who started the fire?"

"You know that for sure?" he asked doubtfully.

I nodded. "I saw him at a distance. I only found out who he was much later."

"Oh."

"That's not it, thought," I assured him. "When I first moved to Chicago to got to school, I lived at my uncle's art studio. After he died, Guess Who shows up at his funeral, and harasses some kids my uncle used to help? One of which died within the next day or so, another went missing, and the other two… well, nobody knows what happened to them. They've been seen around town, but they're not normal anymore."

"You don't know—"

I started ticking off fingers in a countdown. "After I got a job working for the Chicago Fire Prevention Bureau, I was tapped as someone 'in the know' when it comes to magic. They tasked me with explaining away fires that aren't explainable by mundane means. I had to make things look natural, no matter how unnatural or supernatural they might have been."

"That doesn't sound bad," Simon said with a shrug.

"It wasn't, right up until Guess Who burned down an abandoned school, and I got caught planting evidence by a local fire house captain that _wasn_ _'_ _t_ 'in the know'."

"Ouch."

I sat back against the headboard. "Which cost me my job, and landed me with _more_ arson charges, which I only barely avoided going to trial over."

"But didn't that also get you the settlement that bought your house?" Anya interjected.

I shot another scowl at her. "Who's side are you on?"

Both eyebrows rose in surprise. "Yours. Definitely yours."

"Better be," I growled. "Now, where was I? Right. Inexplicable jobs I've had to explain over the years where he's been seen: a fire in a hotel storage room; reports of fiery lights flitting about a random tornado that touched down in the middle of town; smoke bombs without bombs at a convention center where people had started dying; a mundane car-bombing and apartment fire, which I didn't actually have to investigate, but I thought I'd include since Guess Who was present for both—"

"Alright," Simon said, raising his hands defensively.

"A building with the side sheered off like sheet cake."

"Yea— wait, what?"

"What looked to be a major lightning strike _inside_ the train station."

"Okay."

"The Shedd Museum disaster, which was similar to the sheet-cake building incident. Both involved inexplicable lightsaber-like burns the size of basketballs."

"Now you're cheating," Anya said, quirking an eyebrow. As if anyone would notice that over the fact that her jacket was still unzipped. "No-one saw him there."

"He was there," I assured her. "I know people who know. And those last three were all on top of one another, which meant I was working overtime to cover his ass. On top of having to clean up an old mess he'd left in my hometown."

Anya rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I get it," Simon finally said. "Bad things happen around him. But that's mostly because he puts himself out there to help others. Those bad things would have still happened if he weren't around."

I gave him a disappointed look. "I help people too; but you don't see me burning buildings down."

"Ah," Anya said, raising a finger in protest.

I rolled my eyes. "Olivia's apartment excluded. And that was just a hall fire."

"And weren't you telling me about those purple fires burning warehouses down?" she inquired.

"That wasn't me, that was the other guy."

"Violet said you burned a ring in your mom's police station—"

"That's different," I argued.

"And I've heard about the dragon."

"The dragon?" Simon asked breathlessly, watching our back and forth.

"It was a little dragon," I told him dismissively. "Little d. I've been told that makes a difference."

"Isn't that the understatement of the century," Anya said with a smirk.

"Hush you," I said, just as there was a knock at the door. A second later it opened, and Argondian invited himself in.

"I wanted to see—" is as far as he got before he saw Anya in her somewhat undressed state.

"Oh, lord," she said, quickly zipping up as the old wizard clasped his hands together and looked up to mouth a silent prayer.

"No luck with the spells," Simon said quickly, his blush returning as he worried at being caught. Not that he'd been doing anything, but Argondian would probably be telling everyone about the orgy he'd walked in on.

Nelson walked up behind the old wizard, having missed Anya's show. "We were able to confirm that there were no more graveyard desecrations after dawn. But their initial count of a dozen might have been low."

"Still no clue on where they could be hiding?" Simon asked.

"Not that we've been able to find," Nelson confirmed after looking to Argondian, who had his eyes clenched shut and a huge grin on his face. The bald wizard started to ask him what's wrong, but Argondian blindly waved him down. "I'm burning it into my long term memory."

"Something's gonna burn," Anya growled softly.

"Anyway…" Nelson said, clearly confused by what was going on. "I'm going to go hunt down Penny to see if she learned anything from the local faeries."

"Make sure she brings Sal back," I told him. The little guy had jumped up when the girl said she was going to find a secluded garden to see if she could commune with the sprites and dew-drops. Although I suspected he just wanted to try and snack on her multi-wooded wizard staff.

"If she didn't, are we counting on Rose?" Simon asked.

"Unfortunately," Nelson confirmed, looking down at his time piece. It was some wizard contraption, a combination of sundial and geared mechanism. I was confused about how he expected a sundial to work inside, but as it shone with its own light that apparently stayed oriented with the sun…

Wizards.

"We've got a few more hours until nightfall," he finished, looking up.

"Well, let's all be ready," I said. "How about we meet downstairs about thirty minutes before dusk?"

The others all nodded, and Simon helped Nelson push Argondian out of the room. He seemed to be reliving the scene he'd fabricated in his head.

As soon as the other were out, Anya's jacket was off, and a wave of lust washed over me. Since she didn't usually use her power on me like that, I wondered if she was trying to keep me distracted.

"Let's make sure we're both as ready as possible for tonight," she said as she crawled across the bed toward me.

And for a moment, I was able to ignore the worry eating at my gut.

* * *

Thirty minutes before dusk, I made my way outside to smoke a cigarette. All of my things were in the duffel bag beside the bench I sat on. I had my enchanted glasses on, with the lenses dimmed with the sunglass spell. I was trying to hold onto the calm that Anya had brought on with her power, but it was already slipping away.

While I waited, a moderately ugly man sat down beside me on the bench, his own duffel bag falling to the sidewalk with an audible clink.

"Smoke?" I offered, holding out what was left of my box. I'd gone through almost an entire pack since that morning, which was unusual for me. But I was under a little pressure, so that was understandable.

The man snorted in disgust at the proffered cigarettes. "I'll be lucky if I can get the stench out of my nostrils as it is," he rasped out.

I put the snakewood box away, and looked over at the goblin named Qilluhrang.

Like all goblins, Q suffered from an acute disorder of physical features. He had all the right parts, but none of it was what you'd call symmetrical.

He was better to look at than most — according to him; I still hadn't met any other goblins — which put him on the ugly end of human. And that was when he was using his glamour to pass himself off as such.

Normally the goblin's skin was a greenish shade of white that reminded one of spoilt milk and gangrene. His eyes were slightly differing shades of red, both of which glowed with an inhuman light. His ears were long and bat-like, one drooping lower than the other, and his hair was a mix of earthy colors, strung out into thin strands that looked like a really bad toupee. The only thing that you could say was even was his musculature; he had the lean form of an agile warrior bred to killing over countless generations.

With the glamour, his skin was almost white, and his eyes were almost brown. His hair looked thicker, but he put a Blackhawks ball cap over it anyway. He was dressed for battle, wearing his own Balaur leather pants. His pair was the more natural brown color of the dragon hide, rather than my expertly tailored black pair. He carried the matching jacket over one arm, and was sporting a _Zombieland_ t-shirt.

"Anya broke one of her swords," I told him, to which he snorted in derision. "She wants some enchanted blades."

"And I told you before," he hissed out softly. "If we have our friend make them for her, her entire family is going to want them."

"I'd rather deal with telling Lara Raith no than burying a friend."

The goblin simply grumbled at that. I took another drag, and then told him everything he'd missed.

By the time I was done, the others had all come out, and were standing a short distance away. It was clear they were curious about who I was speaking to, but didn't want to interfere. I took Q over, and introduced him to the others.

Moretti just glared at me. "Do you have any _normal_ acquaintances?"

"I'm going to kill him," Anya whispered softly to Q through a smile. The goblin simply studied the wizard, his eyes lingering on the glove and sleeve covering his steel arm.

"Q's a friend, and good in a fight," I told the wizard. "He's also friends with Violet, and doesn't want anything to happen to her."

"Nice to meet you," Penny said, offering Q her hand. He looked at it for a long moment, and then surprised me by shaking it. "Likewise," he rasped out, perhaps sounding the politest I'd heard in a while.

"What'd you find out from the locals?" I asked her. The others hadn't reported back after we'd parted. Sal was still sitting on Penny's shoulder, chewing on what looked like a eucalyptus leaf. I wasn't going to ask. He's always been good with the ladies, and is usually eating out of the palm of their hands within minutes.

"Nothing and everything," she replied, sounding disappointed. "I didn't speak with anyone."

"Really?" I asked, surprised. Argondian had said she was in tight with the little folk.

"Unfortunately," she replied. "But that tells me something as well. The only times they won't speak with me is when they're scared."

"So Salvago has driven the local Fae into hiding?" Anya asked.

"Indeed," Rose replied, eliciting a startled gasp from everyone as she appeared beside me.

Even Q's eyebrows ticked up a notch as he noted the similarities between her and Violet. Looking at her again, I wasn't sure how I'd ever thought they were alike. There was something about her that was just different. Not wrong, or bad. Just different from the nymph I knew.

 ** _Different Shades make Different Lampades_** , the voice of her torch said inside my head, clearly understanding what I was thinking despite not being in contact. I had to hope it was because of the power Rose had given me to translate Greek, and not a sign that I was going mad.

"Wow," I said, looking at the nymph in surprise. "I thought it only said the one thing."

"It is always chatty," she replied with a frown. "But not usually with others."

"Uh, what?" Simon said, just as confused as the others.

"And it's punny," I added. The torch had turned it into a rhyme, even if that wasn't the correct pronunciation.

Hell, the inanimate object _had a personality._

"Do not encourage it," Rose said with a scowl. "It is not used to others hearing it."

"Is Violet's as punny as—"

"We have no time to waste," the Lampad said, cutting me off. "They have already begun."

"But the sun's only just begun to set," I said, looking to the horizon.

"The shadows have fallen upon the far side of the mountains," she replied.

"Shit," I said, cursing as the group turned to the east.

The mountains that made up the central landscape of the island loomed in the distance, their peaks bright under the setting sun. But on the far side, the mountain's mass would have already shrouded much of the landscape in darkness. Had I thought of that, we could have traveled there, and Rose could have met us that much faster.

And Salvago wouldn't have had extra time to cull the graves.

"Can you take us to where they are?" I asked quickly. The others all tensed, realizing that battle was imminent.

"I can take you to where they have been," she said.

"Do you know where they're going?" Argondian asked, his tone thankfully serious.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I believe they have discovered that I led you to them earlier. Violet now shields them and herself from my light."

"Then how did you know they were acting?" Nelson asked.

"His profanity grows," the Lampad growled, a furious light shining within her sanguine eyes. "He has discovered the hypnotic effects of the torch. The people of Nagos are praying to old gods and new in the chaos of his actions."

"Wait, the hypnotic what?" Anya asked, looking to me. I shook my head.

"Men cannot look upon the light of our torches; it drives them mad," Rose explained quickly. "You are spared by my will. But rather than leading them to madness, the torch can entrance them."

I didn't follow. "So they're luring spirits now?"

" _No_ ," the nymph said tersely. "They are luring _humans_. He has begun to enslave living souls."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The ten of us appeared just outside the city of Nagos in the blink of an eye, well out of sight of the townspeople.

Well. The townspeople that were left.

What remained was a chaotic mass of humanity. Screams greeted our arrival, and things only grew worse as we grew closer. By the time we'd reached the city limits, the burning buildings came into view.

Lavender and lilac flames soared into the sky as half the town burned.

Those mortals that remained and had managed to hold on to their sanity now fought desperately against the fires. The rest were sobbing in the streets, either mad from seeing the torch, or grieving over the loved ones that had been taken.

I'm not sure whether it was a blessing or a curse that the those taken were mostly adults. That children under twelve had been spared was fortunate, and the elderly remained as well. Not every man and woman of age was gone, but it was enough to hamper response efforts.

Rose quickly strode among us, a carmine flame passing between each pair of lips to grant them the language they'd need to help. We worked our way through the town, doing what we could.

The wizards did their best to smother the flames. Argondian was a water mage, and used his talents to direct water where it was most needed. Crudely painted glyphs on the ground drew springs from the earth, which Nelson and Simon spread with whatever abilities they could manage. Penny used her affinity with plants to infuse the flora around the town with moisture, hoping to prevent the fires from spreading to drought-afflicted trees and lawns. Moretti used his magnetic abilities to tear pipes from the streets, sending water cascading across the buildings.

The rest of us were left with saving those trapped inside the burning homes. Both Anya and Q were scorched when pulling children from the flames; Sal helped those with burns, licking at the injuries with his salve-like saliva. The bone-white ring I wore, the gift from the very same Lampad torch that had started the fires, protected me from them as I saved those I could.

Rose was perhaps the most helpless of us all. She had no way to stay the flames caused by another Lampad's torch. With no affinity for water, and with the site of her sending the remaining citizens into a fresh panic, the nymph was forced to use her own torch to hypnotize the people. Once they were under her sway, she was able to lead them to safety, and keep them out of harm's way.

We fought the fires for over an hour, before the last of the flames were extinguished.

On the horizon, we could see the glow from towns burning further along the coast, as Salvago pillaged his homeland for both the living and the dead.

* * *

"We can't keep this up," Penny said exhaustedly.

"We don't have to," Nelson replied, his chest heaving. Despite his magical ability to enhance his speed and stamina, the man was running on fumes. All of us were. "The Navy is here."

I turned to look through the smoke of the fourth town we'd traveled to, and sighed in relief as I spotted the ships pulling toward the shore. Vessels with water cannons had been dispatched to the first few towns, while others oversaw the evacuation of the survivors. Evacuation was the only option for those villages further inland.

"Those are Turkish ships," Moretti said dully.

"Where are we?" I asked, looking around. I'd lost track of east and west after the sun had fully set. Hours had passed since then. The moon was no help, obscured by dark clouds that had rolled over the island, but had refused to shed any rain.

"Somewhere to the southwest, I think," the steel armed wizard responded. Any disdain he'd held for me and my companions had been burned away as we worked through the early hours of the night. "The last time Rose came through, she said the southwest was the worst off."

"Where are the others?"

Nelson shrugged tiredly. "I'm not even sure they're here. Rose whisked Argondian away when the military base went up."

"Salvago attacked a military base?" I asked in disbelief.

"No, the fires just spread from a nearby town," he explained.

The town we were in had finally seen most of the fires extinguished. The townspeople had been evacuated away, and with help on the way, it was time for us to leave. The four of us set off for the edge of town, with me calling out for Sal as we went. I wasn't even sure when I'd seen him last.

Before we were clear of the buildings, a flicker of light appeared in front of us, and Rose stepped to our group. "I know where she is."

It took me a second. "You mean Violet?"

"Yes," the Lampad said quickly, motioning the others forward. We all stepped closer, and as soon as we touched the torch, the world shifted, and we were in the Ways.

The one benefit of traveling by the Lampad tunnels was that we could travel anywhere without losing time. Unfortunately, we also had to _walk_ through the Ways. That hadn't been much of an issue before, but as the night dragged on, we all moved a little slower.

Personally I was regretting not getting more shut-eye. I'd caught a few hours now and again, but it had been the better part of two days since I'd gotten any significant sleep. The constant feeding from Anya, which rejuvenated me as much as it did her, had lulled me into a false sense of vitality. Drawing on the power of the apple seed had kept me going, but it was no replacement for proper rest.

"Where are the others?" Moretti asked as we all huddled around the light from the Lampad's torch. She was able to to cast the illumination farther when there was a larger group, but we were all overly cautious of the looming dark. After Anya had explained about her knife, everyone had eyed the black edge of the light with trepidation.

"Elsewhere," Rose replied, not offering much more. The nymph seemed no worse for wear, although she'd been transporting us all around the island, while helping where she could.

"Are you going to bring them?" I asked. I didn't like the idea of going up against Salvago's people in our tired state with diminished numbers.

"If needed," the Lampad said. "I am hoping you can reach her. This is the first opportunity I've seen."

"What do you mean?" Penny asked. I saw that the leaves were growing and wilting from her staff as she tried to refresh herself. She unconsciously plucked leaves now and again to hold against the others. The foliage wilted upon contact, and I could visibly see Nelson and Moretti perk up.

She'd offered the same to me, but I declined, instead depending on the slower benefit of meditating without my punky vampire's assistance. I couldn't feel the wellspring of power the apple seed provided, but I could feel its affects anytime I slowed down long enough to put myself in the right state of mind.

"I cannot find the mágos or the Hound," Rose admitted. "But Violet is currently alone in a town, gathering the living to her."

My heart sped up as I realized what she was saying. "We've got a chance at reaching her."

"Yes," Rose confirmed with a nod. "If you can break whatever enchantment the mágos uses to control her, then we can put an end to this."

"Do we need to worry about the torchlight?" Nelson asked. "If she's hypnotizing the living, and we approach…"

"The power I've given you should be able to counter any effect," Rose said, although she didn't sound sure. "The light from the torch will cause madness in any of the living who see it; the only reason you are not affected by the light I bear is because I will it so."

"Oh," Nelson said, nodding. "Good to know."

Rose drew to a halt, taking on a now familiar distant look as she checked where we were in comparison to reality. "I sense no-one near my sister. It seems the mágos has grown over-confident."

"Maybe he's leaving the living to her while he raises more of the dead," Moretti observed.

"Regardless of the reason, this is your opportunity," she replied.

We all nodded, and then braced ourselves as the world shifted again.

Unlike some of the other trips, the Lampad had brought us directly into town. There weren't any fires yet, which was a blessing, but the place was eerily quiet. The old stone buildings loomed around us in the dark, where no lights shone in windows or on the street.

"Where is she?" I asked in a whisper.

"This way," Rose replied, leading us forward. Her own torch burned low, limiting our visibility. "I am blocking her from sensing us just as she blocked herself and the others earlier."

"Cool," I said, rounding a corner.

"What do you mean earlier?" Moretti asked softly as we made our way down a narrow street. The buildings to either side were beautiful, the walls covered in decorative tiles and iron works.

"She was masking their presence," the Lampad reminded us as a plum light became visible around the next corner. My pace quickened, and I found myself almost running.

"But what about now?" Moretti press, his tone darkening.

As I reached the corner, I looked toward the source of the light. My heart skipped a beat when I saw Violet leading a procession of people down the center of a road.

There were maybe four dozen people trailing behind her, the purple light of her torch reflecting oddly off their glazed eyes as they stumbled after her. Men and women, all in their teens or older, walked with leaden steps as the Lampad strode through the street.

"Violet," I said from a dozen feet away. It wasn't loud enough for her to hear, but at the sound of my voice, the Lampad drew to a halt, her head turning to look.

My breath caught in my throat. It was her, all save her eyes.

I couldn't tell you what it was that marked her so different from sister. Other than the color of their hair, eyes, and clothes, they were identical. Different hues, but clearly nymphs of a kind. And yet there _was_ something different. Something that I could sense, if not describe.

Maybe I was just being overly romantic. Maybe it was just me rationalizing that my girl was special, rather than one of a pair.

Whatever it was, it assured me that _this_ was the woman I loved. Maybe it wasn't enough love to satisfy the White Court, but it was a love that had caused me endless worry since I'd learned what had happened to her. My instincts had been telling me something was wrong even before Rose had arrived at my door.

My insides were churning now, a constant sea of unease rolling through me as I looked into her amaranthine eyes. Eyes I knew so well, save for the soft emerald light that crept in at the corners.

Like the Hound I'd seen earlier, there was a power at work in her. Tendrils of energy seemed to waver around her eyes, and I was suddenly struck with a memory from long ago. I'd seen something similar years before, when I'd faced a Hag. The sorceress had controlled animals, living and dead, using them as her weapons. There had been a fey green light in their eyes as well, and I wondered if that was the secret to how Salvago was controlling them. If he had studied the same magics as the Hag, and had turned them on people rather than beasts.

I took all that in, without really paying attention to the words around me. My focus was on the woman I loved.

"You're saying you can sense her now?" Moretti hissed.

"Yes," Rose said. "That is how I found her. Before, we could only chase them by the prayers their chaos wrought, and the fires they left in their wake."

Moretti grew tense. "But why stop shielding herself now?"

"Why indeed?" another voice said from behind us.

The others spun quickly, while my eyes felt like they were slowly torn from Violet's. Eventually I turned, to catch the tail end of the veil flickering away. I stared, the uneasy feeling spiking as I realized what Moretti had been going on about. What his instincts had been warning him of.

I was too late figuring it out, though, as I turned to find Yannis Salvago standing not ten feet away, surrounded by a retinue of enthralled wizards.

His eyes, dark and dead compared to those that glowed angrily around him, drifted over us one by one, as one hand idly rested on the massive head of the Hound beside him. When he finished studying those he'd lured into his trap, he gave a slight nod. An echo to the one he'd given just before the Hound had taken that light from with Rai.

A nod that elicited a growl from the beast as it tensed beside him.

"Take them."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

It only took a split second for me to realize my mistake.

Sure, I'd been caught up in my hope to save Violet. When Rose had said her sister was alone and isolated, my only thought had been toward rescuing her before the dark wizard realized the danger. I'd been fooling myself into thinking this fight was winnable.

I'd forgotten everything they'd said about Yannis Salvago.

This was the wizard that had coldly strategized the destruction of the most powerful vampire court in history. He had participated in a secret campaign that had resulted in the destruction of an entire species of supernatural beings. He had fought wars against necromancers and Red Court vampires, and studied the dark arts like no other wizard alive.

He was a tactician, one that was no longer constrained by moral complications.

And we'd stumbled right into his trap.

None of it was an accident. The fires burning across the island weren't flukes; they were distractions, meant to keep us busy, wear us down, and separate our numbers. We'd numbered ten when we'd first set out, and now we were down to six, facing similar odds.

The fey emerald light shone in Andrés Peña's eyes as he started toward us, his warden sword unsheathed in his right hand while his left bore his gnarled wooden staff. The same light burned in the eyes of the bare-chested Warden Somboon, burned and battered and scarred from our previous encounters, and yet still impossibly upright as his dha sword crackled with blue-white energy and the wooden scabbard thrummed with power.

Beside Salvago, his latest conquest stood at the ready, the young wizard Rai staring slackly at those that had been his allies an impossibly long day ago, the mossy tendrils drifting from his dull eyes.

Thankfully, the Hound did not react when Salvago spoke. Rather than attacking, he remained at his master's side. Had he moved with that impossible speed I'd seen earlier, we might have been finished before the dark wizard had finished speaking.

Salvago himself stood calmly among the servants of his will, holding his long spear in his left hand. His Warden sword was still sheathed on his hip, ready should he need it. Now that I was closer, I could see how sunken his eyes and cheeks were, how sallow his skin that pulled tightly across his gaunt face. He seemed smaller than he had that very morning, and yet no less intimidating.

The hood of his gray cloak was up, giving him the appropriately sinister appearance I'd expect of the Big Bad. But his face held neither hate nor menace for us; there was no maniacal laugh or sinister leer. There was no glare that revealed his madness, nor glint of pretentious pride that could be turned in our favor.

There was only a stillness to him, a calm and cold posture that implied that the fight was already over. That he had done what he must to ensure victory, and was awaiting the outcome that was inevitable.

But despite the odds, I like to think that if we had been facing just those five, we might have stood a chance. That we could have risen to the occasion and faced them on even terms, or that Rose could have whisked us back into the Ways before the fight began.

It was not to be.

Even as the two wardens burst into motion, a fiery tendril of amethyst snapped toward our group from behind, wrapping itself around Rose. I heard her shout of surprise as Violet's fire whip tore her from our midst before the Lampad could draw us together. She disappeared into the crowd of civilians as she flew backward, and Violet turned to follow as the hypnotized townspeople surged forward, forming a human wall that blocked one avenue of escape.

"Back!" Moretti screamed as a buzzing noise whipped passed, and I saw Penny waver before falling backwards.

"Sniper!" Nelson shouted as he reached for the girl, even as I ducked low and dove for the alley. Moretti whipped his arm up, and the sound of air popping accompanied the appearance of several odd bullets freezing in mid-flight. Moretti stepped around the corner, out of sight of the unseen Katya while Nelson and I tugged Penny into the alley, looking Penny over quickly.

"She's not bleeding," I observed.

"Spirit round," Nelson said as he picked the girl up, his strength surprising me until I recalled his comment about using magic to fuel his physical attributes. "It's like a tranquilizer dart. They're trying to take us alive."

"Get her out of here!" Moretti shouted, his steel arm raised as he aimed a spell at the oncoming Wardens. But a thrust of Somboon's scabbard unleashed a spell that sent lightning crackling along the man's metal appendage. He staggered back, clearly surprised by the attack, and stumbled away as Peña closed on him.

Nelson shifted Penny to one side while training his staff at Peña with the other. One of his white shields flickered into existence between us and the charging man. The warden's sword was ready, and ripped through the white half-sphere as it formed, shredding the spell with the enchantments on the blade.

The sword swung back around, preparing to cleave Moretti in two. But the metal-armed man was suddenly drawn _up_ , as if pulled by some unseen force, along the side of the building. I saw where his arm snapped to one of the iron railings along the second floor, and realized the wizard had used his magnetic abilities to pull himself out of the way.

I thought he might get away, but another whipping sound accompanied a Spirit round, which took him in the chest. The spell had been enough to knock Penny out instantly, but Moretti was still conscious, if somewhat groggy, when Peña wrenched his gnarled staff backward. As he did, the stone and tile wall supporting the ironworks shattered, the entirety of which crumbled to the alley floor. Moretti disappeared in the pile of rubble, crushed beneath hundreds of pounds of stone and steel.

"Serg!" Nelson shouted, stepping forward. I grabbed his arm, and he turned to glare at me.

"It's too late," I shouted, looking back toward the wreckage. Somboon had already leapt atop it, and was preparing another spell with his scabbard. I tugged the bald wizard further down the alley as another electrical spell rippled out, causing arcs of light to fire between all of the metal fixtures in the narrow passage.

Seeing as we were standing between all of those beautiful ironworks, that meant lightning was flashing all around us.

Several bolts struck us as we ran, causing us to stagger. Nelson did his best to stay on his feet, slinging Penny into a fireman's carry as we went. An arc struck the steel rod in the sheath across my back, which made all of my hair stand on end. Thankfully the leather sheath and coat shielded me from most of it, but my body was shaking as we reached the far end.

"This way!" I shouted, leading us downward. But even as we started, a crowd of people came around the next corner, their blank faces sending chills down my back as they turned as one. "Never-mind! Back the other way!"

In the face of the villagers, we turned and headed up the street, a cobblestone path that wasn't conducive to running. We made it a block before the terrain proved treacherous, especially in the hands of an earth mage like Peña.

The cobbles before us rose up, curling like a wave to block our route. Nelson fired a blast of his kinetic energy, but it did little more than splash against the thick earthen wall. Too much of his power was being fueled into his strength and speed to carry the girl.

Which meant breaking through the barrier was left to me.

My left hand dropped to my right wrist as I ran at the wall, reaching for the leather bracelet I wore. Three rows of studs made it look like something a goth kid might wear, but upon closer inspection, you'd see that the studs weren't really studs at all. They were removable snaps, all made of metal, but most with crystalline caps of varying shades.

I plucked a snap free, the chocolate-colored crystal atop it glinting in the light as I threw it at the wall. As it flew from my fingertips, I shouted the command associated with it. " _Lith-luth!_ "

The pre-fabricated spell activated when the snap hit the barrier, and the earth magic inside washed over the cobbles and dirt. I called it my sandstone spell, the spell that broke down stone and earth into particles no bigger than grains of sand. It had been originally designed to trap an enemy in a small quicksand trap, but I'd adapted it to more uses several times.

A hole appeared in the wall before us, several feet of tile and dirt sloughing away like grains in an hourglass to reveal the road beyond. The other two ducked through a moment before I did, and then we were running, leaving the trap behind.

We made it another block before a wave of stone rippled along a side street ahead of us, carrying Peña atop it.

Thinking I'd turn his own strength against him, I plucked a second sandstone snap from the bracelet and let it fly. It landed between his feet, and I enjoyed the look of surprise on the wizard's face as he abruptly dropped several feet into the street, the earth holding fast to him as he squirmed inside the hole.

All too quickly, the earth mage twisted his gnarled staff, and as we were running past, the sand beneath him started churning, lifting him up. We had just enough room to run by while he was submerged, but as he rose, his sword began to snap around, dangerously close.

" _Helca-luth!_ " I shouted as I hurled another tab at him. It hit him in his sword arm, which stiffened as the freezing spell sucked all of the heat from the air in the immediate vicinity. Ice blossomed across his upper body and up to his hand, although I noted it didn't extend onto his warden's blade.

Nelson and I kept running, but I looked back to make sure Peña wasn't on our heals. I was pleased to see that he was still pinned for the moment, but not as pleased to see Somboon run around a corner, lightning flickering around his legs as his power propelled him after us.

I tugged another snap free and let it fly, hoping the old fire-with-fire adage worked as well on him as it had on Peña. " _Gwelu-ur!_ " I shouted, unleashing a ball lightning spell right in the path of the oncoming wizard. The spell was one of the most powerful I had, and had killed several vampires and a few other nasty things I'd run into on occasion. I felt a little bad about using it against a mortal, but seeing as Somboon had died several times over already, I wasn't too worried about killing him.

Unfortunately, the spell had no effect on him, as the lightning simply faded as he waved his scabbard in front of him.

"Well shit," I rasped out. "That was an expensive spell."

Nelson turned back, and began awkwardly firing his kinetic half-spheres over his shoulder, all while trying to keep Penny balanced. Each exploded at Somboon's feet, causing him to stumble, slowing him down. He was close, and with a leap similar to what I'd seen him do in the graveyard, the man was flying through the air, his sword sparking as he descended toward us.

" _Raud-teitha!_ " I shouted as I threw another tab, this one lacking any crystal. It activated a few paces behind us, and directly beneath the leaping Warden. When the spell fired, the Warden seemed to waver in mid-air as a powerful magnetic field tugged at his sword.

The spell caused his leap to falter, drawing him down, but it wasn't enough to pin his sword to the snap like I'd hoped. The warden pulled at the weapon as it hovered over the tab, before a surge of electrical energy along the blade sparked to the metal snap. There was a small explosion, and then the spell was destroyed.

By the time he resumed his pursuit, we'd put some distance between us. I could see the edge of the town up ahead, and had the naivety to think we might make it.

The amethyst whip of fire that took Penny around the ankle took us by surprise.

The girl thudded to the ground painfully, pulled from Nelson's grasp at full speed. He and I skidded to a stop just beyond her, and looked back to see where Violet had been waiting on a side street. She'd appeared out of nowhere; perhaps coming from the Ways, or perhaps hiding behind a veil. Either way, the torch pulled at the unconscious girl, dragging her toward the Lampad.

"Violet, no!" I shouted, even as Nelson unleashed a series of kinetic blasts at her.

The fiery whip rippled up, coiling through the air to block the attacks. Each kinetic half-dome sparked against the flames, even as the end continued to drag Penny away. Nelson and I both ran for her, but an invisible wall knocked us backwards.

There was a shimmer of air, and then Salvago was there, his spear stabbing out. It took Nelson in the shoulder, and I watched the wizard fall.

My hand flew to my wrist, tugging another snap from the bracelet. As the dark wizard turned toward me, I let it fly, shouting, " _Naur-luth!_ "

Salvago's eyes narrowed as I did, and then widened as a fiery blast enveloped him. The fire spell was intense, the most powerful that I had. And while I'd never used one on a human, I wasn't sure the dark wizard counted as one anymore. Not in my book, at any rate.

Almost as quickly as it formed, the fire was suddenly snuffed out, a trail of smoke wafting around the wizard in the shape of a dome, before dissipating in the wind. It didn't look like he'd taken much damage at all. There might have been a couple scorch marks on his gray cloak, but other than that, he was fine.

"Interesting," the man said, his voice rumbling. There was no emotion to it; no actual sense of surprise or wonder in the tone. Rather, it was a clinical observation. My ability to cast any sort of spell had surprised him, causing him to reanalyze my abilities. If he had any concern that I might be threat, he likely would have had his air shield up in self-defense. "An unexpected development," he continued, his face slack as he studied me. "A worthy attempt; although it takes air for fire to burn."

The man lowered his spear at me, and I hastily grabbed for the rod across my back, knowing I couldn't get to it in time. Glyphs swirled with a greenish light along the length of his spear, and then something nasty was flying toward me.

Without any chance of stopping the spell, I threw my hands up, shielding my face.

A wall of fire erupted between us, the lilac flames burning bright before disappearing in a flash.

I lowered my arms to find Salvago looking at Violet, who stood beside him. Her eyes were still glazed with that fey light, but a look of consternation had pushed through the slack expression.

"Interesting," Salvago repeated, the word carrying no more weight than it had before. His head tilted as he studied the Lampad, before turning back to me. "Very well."

While he was distracted, I tore my spear from its sheath, and then tugged another snap from my bracelet. I was just beginning to throw the second when the wizard's hand lazily waved in my direction. The spell on my lips died as all of the oxygen in my lungs was pulled from my body.

Dropping both snap and rod, I clawed for my throat, but found an invisible barrier encasing my head. My vision swam as I suffocated. I pushed at the bubble encasing me, but the spell prevented anything from passing through, including the air I desperately needed.

As I struggled, I could just make out a commotion. The bubble distorted my view, and I imagined it must be how a goldfish looks at the world. I saw Nelson rise, and put up some sort of a fight against the dark wizard. I couldn't hear anything, as there was no air for sound-waves to travel upon.

I saw Salvago's spear flash, and then Nelson was flying back, rebounding off of a wall. He hit the ground hard, and then a series of impacts smashed him from surface to surface.

My hand fell on my rod, and I focused on the command for it. _Saiwa-nasta_.

The spear extended into its full length, the spearhead glowing red-hot as I threw it at the air mage. _Let him choke on that if he thinks not being able to breath will stop me_ , I thought furiously. As if Q hadn't practiced choking the life out of me to make sure I could fight in any condition.

My aim was true, but Salvago felt the spear coming through the air. He turned, his free hand raised in front of him, and the spear was caught in an invisible grip.

The spear seemed to catch his interest, and as my vision began to fade, I saw him studying it. Nelson, forgotten for the moment, scrambled to his feet. He shot me what I thought was a dismayed look, and then he was stumbling away, his journey unsteady and wobbling.

Or maybe that was just my eyes, as darkness began to creep in around the edges.

I saw several things as the lack of oxygen took its toll. The first was a pair of red eyes, high up on the building behind Salvago, staring down at me. The shadows around those eyes shifted, and I imagined I could hear the flutter of wings, even though no sound reached my ears. Then the eyes were gone, and the shadows with them.

The second thing I saw was the Hound creep into view along the alley floor. Its red eyes burned in an emerald haze as it dipped its head low, sinking into the chest of Penny. The girl shook, and then grew still, as the Hound drew a bright light from within.

My world narrowed, that light becoming a swirl until finally, there was nothing but merciful black.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Passing out due to asphyxiation is bad. The headache that comes when you wake up is almost worst.

But I suppose it's better than not waking at all.

When I came to, my head was pounding with the worst migraine I'd ever had. I began to rub at my temples, keeping my eyes closed as I try to will away the pain. Meditating helped a little bit, but as I regained an awareness of my surroundings, my ability to concentrate quickly waned.

I suppose it was the stench that eventually clued me to the fact that I was laying atop a pile of corpses.

With a startled breath, I scrambled to my feet, tripping over the legs and limbs of the deceased. I managed to catch my balance before falling back atop them. A faint light filtered through the window, allowing me to barely make out the forms lying across the floor of the stark room.

The dead were in every stage of decay imaginable. Some looked fairly fresh; others looked like they'd been buried for decades. A few were nothing more than fragile bones heaped together, with no flesh present to bind them.

I gagged at the stench of it all, stumbling across the bodies to reach the door. Thankfully the door led outside, but even that didn't give me any respite from the horror. More bodies lay strewn across the ancient dirt street, trailing off in either direction. The one and two-story buildings on either side looked to contain their own collection of the deceased.

My foot slipped as I waded out into the street, and it took everything I had to ignore the squirming sensation of feeling maggots writhing between my toes. There was a slight breeze shifting the odors of death and decay all around me, and carrying with it the buzz of a million insects, all gathering to feast on the flesh unnaturally exposed.

Although, I suppose it could have been worse. The dead could have rose with me.

I searched about, trying to gain my bearings. A glance was all it took to realize I was no longer in the town where we'd been ambushed. Those streets and buildings had been old but cared for.

This new place was ancient. The doorways and windows lay vacant, save for the bodies draped across some of the thresholds. Nothing stirred from within save for the bugs, the place clearly a ghost town filled with nothing but corpses.

And yet, despite the emptiness, a faint lavender light shone in the air, emanating just a few blocks further up the road.

I considered running. In the opposite direction of the light, the road led down, a curving path descending what appeared to be the sloping side of the mountain. There was no other light to be seen, but surely if I headed down, I could find somewhere safe. Somewhere not filled with zombies and dark wizards.

But the light was Violet's.

I steadied myself, and then slowly made my way up.

As I went, I unconsciously reached for Sal's snakewood box, only to touch on the whole in my jacket where the bullet had hit me the day before. His box has been broken, and I'd never quite finished off my cigarettes to free up the other one for him. Last I'd seen him, he'd been with Argondian, or maybe it had been Simon. The night had been confusing, and I wasn't even sure which towns I'd visited.

I noticed that, although they'd left me with my clothes, everything else had been taken from me. My rings, the bone-white one and the silver ones linked to my spear, were gone. My leather bracelet with its spells, my tracking spell compass-watch, and the net spell bead bracelets I wore were all confiscated. So too was the collection of knives and weapons I'd had tucked about my person. And of course my boots, likely taken to make sure I wasn't tempted to run. As I stepped in a cold squishy pile of apple sauce — I didn't look to know differently — I missed the boots most of all.

The rest of my things had been left in the Ways, tucked into my duffel bag. As we'd scrambled to help the people of the first town, I'd figured running around with handguns under my arms wouldn't help matters. I'd tucked those, my glasses, my helmet and mask, and a few other weapons I'd have preferred keeping into the bag, and let Rose put it safely somewhere in the Never-never, where it wouldn't all be eaten by some eternal darkness.

Just another mistake in a string of them.

I don't know why I'd been so confident that we could defeat Salvago and his thralls. I'd been trying to prevent myself from giving into despair, and somehow managed to fool myself into thinking I could do something to help Violet.

But all I'd managed to do was get beaten, shot, and suffocated. And now I was a prisoner of war.

I made my way up through the streets, the buildings really just as corpse-like as the bodies themselves. There was no sign of habitation anywhere. The place had been abandoned long before electricity had been brought to the island. Wood and cloth had long ago rotted away, leaving the bones of the town upon the hill.

Eventually I reached the summit, where a collection of buildings marked the highest point in sight. The bodies of the deceased had ended not far from the top. I was thankful for that, as the stench had somewhat lessened, although it still permeated the air.

The town overlooked the island, and I could see that approaching on foot would be almost impossible, save for the single road winding its way up the mountain. The other sides were all cliffs descending into valleys leading to other hills; steep enough that only mountain goats would pass with any ease.

It was there, at the top, that I found Salvago and Violet.

The light I had seen had indeed been her torch, burning bright in the night. They were standing in what was a small open square among the highest buildings. A mass of people stood around them, staring mutely at the torch. At least twenty or so shuffled off down a side road, while still more stood waiting along another.

The fire wavered atop the Lampad's torch, and the waiting crowd seemed to sway with its motion.

"Don't try to interrupt," a voice said from behind, startling me.

I turned, not bothering to hide my shock. Standing in the entrance to one of the buildings was a hard woman with harder eyes. She was large, thick with muscle and tall in form. Her face was pleasant, in what you might call a handsome way. But the set to her visage was cold and firm, as was her tone.

"I won't," I finally said, realizing that the cloak the woman wore was the same gray as the other wardens. "Katya Sidorenko, I presume?"

The woman nodded slightly. She stepped closer, and as she did, the light revealed more about her. I saw that she wore a sword on one hip, as all the older wardens seemed to do. There was a strap around her chest, and I could see the rifle barrel extending over one shoulder. I noted a stone hanging from a leather necklace around her neck, which she tucked out of sight.

I also noticed a surprising ability to speak, and a distinct lack of green in her eyes.

"You're not like the others," I observed, turning so that I could look at her while also keeping Salvago and Violet in sight.

"No," she said, and seemed to have no inclination to say anything more. Her accent was thick, marking her as being from somewhere in eastern Europe or farther. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun behind her head, a no-nonsense look for a no-nonsense woman.

"What are they doing?" I finally asked, nodding back to the others.

"He is ensuring their loyalty and purity," she stated, no judgment in her tone.

"Enthralling them, you mean?"

"No," she said, irritation in the word. "Yannis does not want mindless servants; he wants loyal subjects."

"Stylizing himself a king, then?" I asked, a little surprised. What I'd seen of Salvago had certainly been dramatic, but not egotistical.

"No," she replied. I waited for something more, but she wasn't giving me much to work with.

"So, he takes innocent people against their will, enslaves them, and raises the peaceful dead, all for their own benefit." I gave her a look. "And you're working with him willingly."

"I am," she confirmed, although there might have been a hint of doubt in her words.

"What could _possibly_ make you think this was okay?" I asked, gesturing around. Not just at the people apparently being brainwashed by Violet's light, but at the sea of corpses back down the hill. At the fires I could now see in the far distance, still burning through the night as the island struggled to make order out of the chaos.

"I have seen worse, and fear the worst yet to come," she replied, not turning her gaze from the dark wizard and the Lampad.

"Really?" I said, not bothering to temper my sarcasm. "What could be worse than _this?_ "

"The death of the mortal world."

Her words chilled me, and I frowned at her. "I don't think humanity is on the brink of extinction. What are we at, seven billion?"

"Seven billion sheep ready for the slaughter," she replied, her voice still dispassionate. "Ignorant of the threat around them, of the danger lurking in their midst."

"And what danger is that?" I asked. "Diabetes? Heart disease? Because I think they're aware."

"There is a darkness growing," Katya said, finally turning her gaze from Salvago to me. "There is something corrupting humanity, corrupting the supernatural world. Something that is corrupting the Council, even from within."

"And what is this darkness? This phantom menace? Phantom menaces are the _worst_ ," I said, trying to keep the fear at bay with humor. But she missed the reference.

"I do not know," she confessed bluntly, without shame. "But I have seen its effects. I have seen good people die because of it."

"I'm seeing good people dying now, because of the things you're doing," I said, gesturing back toward the others.

"They are not dying," she said with a frown. "Once he has assured their loyalty, they will be released. Salvago will need the support of the people if he is to succeed."

"The support of the people?" I said in disbelief. "You've destroyed their homes; destroyed families! You've desecrated the dead, and perverted the laws of nature!"

"We do what we must," Salvago said from behind me, causing me to spin about.

The man had approached silently. Violet was still with the others, her torch reflected in their eyes. I turned to the man responsible for so much chaos and destruction, but saw no concern for the damage he'd wrought. Nor was there smugness, nor pride, nor celebration for having defeating us. There was no passion, nor morals, no life.

There was only cold logic and death.

"How could you do this?" I whispered, shaking my head. "These are your people."

"That is why I shall protect them," he said flatly. His eyes were as dull as the stone walls around us, as pale as the moonlight trying to pierce through the clouds overhead. He was gaunt, seemingly even more so than he'd been just a short time ago in the other town.

"Protect them from what?" I asked.

"From corruption," Salvago said, his dark eyes boring holes into me. "I have seen how men can be turned against others. I will not have that of my people."

"But isn't that what you're doing?" I asked, blindly gesturing toward the crowd that was just now leaving Violet. Another mass of people shuffled up from the road, awaiting their turn at whatever she was doing. "Aren't you bending them to your will?"

"I am ensuring that no other can taint their minds," he countered. "When I found the corruption within the Council, I did not know who to trust. I failed in telling one I thought was a friend, and he rewarded my loyalty with betrayal."

"Are you talking about LaFortier?" I asked, recalling what the others had said.

"He will pay with his life," Salvago stated simply. It wasn't a threat; he was simply stating a fact. He didn't even sound like he relished the idea, so much as recognized it as a necessity.

"He already has," I told him.

Katya stiffened, and Salvago's head tilted. "Ah. Then he did not betray me."

"Not from what the others said," I said. "He was killed by someone named Donald Morgan."

"Impossible," Salvago said immediately.

"How's that?"

"You do not know Donald Morgan," he said neutrally, although his eyes had grown distant. "No force on earth or beyond could turn him from his loyalty to the Council."

I shrugged. "Some of the others said it was because of the taint you were talking about," I said carefully. "That someone might have made him do it."

"Impossible," the man repeated with a slight shake of his head. It was almost robotic. "The taint is insufficient to force him."

"It's enough for you to control Peña and Somboon," I countered. "You know, your friends that you've turned into puppets."

"They were not turned using the corruption," he said with another tilt of his head. "I was forced to kill them. But they have proven useful, using the powers of the Lampad and the Hound."

"So, what? You hypnotized them like you did with the townspeople?" I asked doubtfully.

"No," the dark wizard said. "I removed their souls, made the appropriate modifications, and then restored them."

I don't think the man could have said a more terrifying sentence if he'd tried.

I stared at him, unable to process what he'd said. The words themselves were horrible and grotesque. To claim to take the immortal soul from someone, to play God with such a thing, was blasphemous, whatever religion you happen to believe in. And to claim that perverting them, breaking them to his will, was in some way an improvement, was revolting.

But what made it worse was his tone. Or lack their of. There was no guilt or sadness over what he'd done. There was no sorrow over the loss of life, nor regret that those he'd considered friends and allies were now nothing more than puppets.

There was no humanity left in this man.

"What have you done?" I asked, unable to hide my disgust.

The thing that had been Yannis Salvago interpreted my comment clinically. "I have imparted a piece of my own soul into theirs."

"You what?" I said, surprised I could still be surprised by him.

"It is the most efficient way of ensuring their loyalty," he advised me. "Protections like what I bestow on my fellow Chians would not work on them. Bending them by other means would cost them their power, making them all but useless to me. Taking pieces of their soul, in exchange for mine, is the only way."

I simply stared at the man, until I couldn't look at him anymore. I turned to Katya, who had joined him of her own free will, and realized she might be just as bad.

"You're mad," I whispered to both of them. "Utterly mad."

"Unlikely," Salvago said soberly. But apparently he wasn't so sure as to deny the possibility.

"Can't you see what you're doing is wrong?" I pleaded with him, hoping I was mistaken; hoping there might be some shred of humanity in him that would stop this madness. "You're destroying lives all in some mad attempt to… to what? To stop evil? You're committing atrocities to stop this darkness?"

The man studied me for a moment, and I thought I might have gotten through. But then he turned to look out over the town. "Do you know where we are?" he asked.

"No." There was no point in trying to reach him.

"This place is called Anavatos," he said, looking over the ghost town. There was almost something soft to his voice and eyes as he said the name. "This is my home."

I glanced around the bones of the ancient town. "It hasn't been anyone's home for a long time."

"No," he said, his voice hardening again. "Nearly two hundred years ago, pirates raided Chios, burning homes and villages and stealing from the people. While I was apprenticing with my master, men came to my home to steal, rape, and plunder.

"But Anavatos is well named," he said, the tenderness returning. "It was nearly impregnable, with the wall protecting the slope, and the cliffs protecting the town. It could last a siege for seasons, with its stores full and wells plentiful."

The humanity faded again, leaving the cold thing its place. "Do you know why this has not been a home for nearly two hundred years?"

I shook my head.

"Betrayal," he whispered, his eyes distant. "While the citizens prepared for a siege, a traitor opened the gates, admitting the raiders. All it took for fifteen hundred men, women and children to die was one man willing to sell his loyalty."

I looked out over the town, the wind atop the mountain giving me chills.

"Some died defending the town," he continued softly. "Some knew what was to come, and sought freedom at any cost, throwing themselves from the cliffs. The rest were left at the mercy of the raiders, who had none to give."

He turned back to me. "Over fifteen hundred dead. My family, dead. My sister, just coming in to her power, dead," he continued, a passion resurgent in his tone. "Everyone, _dead_."

I couldn't meet his eyes. I didn't want to feel anything for this monster. I didn't want to share anything with him, to sympathize with him.

But he wasn't the only one to have lost a sister.

"My life has been a never-ending cycle of betrayal and death," the dark wizard finally said. "First, here in Anavatos. Later, one of our brethren gave in to darkness, and brought the world to its knees not once, but _twice_. Kemmler burned the world to forge himself a weapon, all while betraying those that stood beside him.

"And it did not end with him," Salvago said, bitterness creeping into his inhuman voice, a jaded emotion I thought beyond him. "Now the Council faces more betrayal from within. Again and again. Justin, betraying our ideals, and working with the monsters we have sworn to fight. Simon and those at Archangel, betrayed by a traitor, killed in their own halls as the monsters swarmed against them.

"The betrayals in Sicily and the Congo," he growled, a rage growing that shook him as he spoke. Something glinted in his eyes as something like human pain swam up from the darkness that had consumed him. "Over a hundred Wardens of the White Council, my _brothers and sisters of the sword_ , dead because someone _betrayed them!_ Thousands of _innocent lives_ , killed by the _monsters_ , because someone _betrayed them!_ "

By then the man was seething, the madness beginning to show in widened eyes and clenched teeth. "But would they _do anything?!_ Of _course not!_ Those fools act as if shading their eyes makes the threat disappear, when all they do is _blind themselves!_ _"_

He shook, his entire body convulsing in anguish. "And then I find this _corruption!_ This _taint!_ This _darkness_ spreading through the Council, _corrupting_ _us_ , _polluting_ our _thoughts_ and _actions_ with its _malfeasance!_ " Spittle flew as he raged, the tendons in his neck taught. "I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT!

 ** _"_** ** _I WILL NOT LET THEM!_** "

His scream echoed out over the valleys, carried across the wind by his power, the mage blending his will with the air itself. It echoed like thunder across the clouds, rolling over the land like a storm.

The man screamed incoherently, his hate and his anger and his fear pouring out like a wave over the hills. It seemed endless, until at last, his breath faded, and with it his despair.

His breathing was heavy, but it slowly settled, until finally he stood as he did before, the wildness fading from his eyes. He looked out over the hills, calming himself, bottling it back up inside.

"I will not let them," he finally said. "I will burn the darkness from those infected by it. I have already done so with Katya, using the light of the Lampad's torch," he said, looking to the woman. She nodded, and I could see that his pain was hers, even if she hadn't cried out. His losses had been hers, and now she stood with the one she knew, the one who had saved her from this corruption.

"The torch will save the people of Chios," he continued. "The children are beyond its reach for now, but in time, as they grow, they too will need to be saved. They too will need the fire within them to prevent the darkness from taking root."

When he finally turned back to me, there was nothing of the man left. Dark and dead eyes met mine. "Those on the Council that have been corrupted shall be healed. The torch will find the traitors amongst us, and burn them from our ranks. The others will join me, and we will face the darkness together."

The man grew silent, confident in his plan. Confident that his way was best, and that his way was the only way.

Like so many other monsters in our history.

"And what of those that don't join you?" I asked softly. "What of those that do not agree with what you're doing here?"

The man met my gaze impassively. "They will be made to see, as I have done with my warden brethren. As will you, should you not choose to join us willingly."

Salvago turned, heading back to Violet, sure of his purpose and authority to choose for others.

Leaving me sure of his madness and insanity.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

While Salvago had been speaking, the townspeople entranced by Violet had continued on, more and more disappearing down the road. There hadn't been any sign of them in the part of the town I had seen, but there was a lower section of the town that might have been there destination.

I watched them go as Salvago returned to Violet, to oversee the work being performed on them. I was left alone with Katya, who watched the man depart.

"So what happens nows?" I asked, turning to her. My words drew her gaze back from the dark wizard, and I thought I saw something there. Perhaps her willingness to follow him stemmed from something deeper she'd felt for him before all of this began.

"Yannis needs to rest," she said softly. "Once he has, you will either join us willingly, or you will serve him as a thrall."

"What if I don't want to do either?" She frowned at my question. "I mean, I heard the guy's speech. I get that he's got motivations." Not that I was sure about this dark corruption he was talking about. "But that doesn't change the fact that what he's doing is wrong."

"It is not ideal, but there is no other way," Katya said, her accent thickening as she grew more insistent. I wasn't sure if she was trying to convince me, or keep herself convinced.

"Look, if there's a corruption in the White Council, I'm all for fixing it," I assured her. "The last thing I want is more wizards running around starting fires. But enslaving those that disagree with you isn't accomplishing anything but spreading more of that darkness you seem so concerned about. Even _Salvago_ knows that."

The warden's frown deepened at my words, but she didn't reply. "What? You didn't notice that?" I asked.

"What do you speak of?" she asked warily.

"Did you notice how he could justify his cause?" I urged her. "But when I asked him about those who'd stand against him, he just shut down? Walked away?" I took a tentative step closer to her. Not too close, seeing as she was a warrior wizard with a sword and a gun, but close enough to whisper. "Deep down he knows what he's doing is wrong. That enthralling other people is a violation. A violation of free will."

I could tell my words were reaching her, but I wasn't sure if they were sinking in. "And what about these zombies? Does raising the dead sound like something the good guys should be doing?"

"It is a means to an end," she recited by rote, although I could tell it bothered her.

"Ends justifying the means; where have I heard _that_ before?" I asked sarcastically.

"It is… not ideal," she repeated. "But he cannot stand alone against this darkness. When the others join him, he will not resort to this."

"Sure, I bet putting aside all that power will be easy." I shrugged. "It's not like others haven't done just that. I'm sure there are plenty examples of necromancers just stopping with all the dark magic once they've accomplished something."

"He is different," she insisted.

" _Damn right he_ _'_ _s different_ ," I hissed. "Is _that_ the man you knew? Is this something he would have done, before all this started?"

Katya looked over at him, and her expression softened somewhat. "Bonding with the Hound… changed him, yes," she admitted. "And he has changed more with each new bond. But he is still the man I— the man I knew."

I might have felt cocky at guessing correctly at her feelings, had I not been so distracted by her other words. "He's growing worse, isn't he? Losing himself as he forces his… essence on others." I refused to believe a mortal soul could be twisted and torn by another.

The warden looked to me, her eyes narrowing as she realized she might have said too much. "You will have an hour to decide. Then he will be ready." She indicated a building across the way. The one we stood beside was one of two three-story buildings in the square. It seemed I was to now be held in the other; the one furthest from escape.

I hesitated to obey, and considered running. Katya seemed to realize what I was thinking, and he hand fell to her sword hilt when I didn't start moving.

"Why wait?" I asked as I obeyed her silent command. She trailed after me.

"I told you, he must rest," Katya said as we cut through the square. She broke off as we waited for more Chians to shuffle off, and then we continued on. Only after we were beyond Salvago and the others did she continue. "He cannot perform two bonds so quickly."

"What do you mean—" I started, until we walked into the building, and I found out for myself.

Just inside the door stood two silent guardians. The eyes of both held traces of green light, the sight of it eerie in the dark building. The first was Rai, the young man who'd been taken when he defended Penny in the graveyard. He stood stoically, staring out into space on one side of the door.

The second was Penny.

I froze just inside the door, my hands clenching helplessly as I looked at her. Her face was slack, and her eyes held no recognition of me. Someone had retrieved the twisted staff she'd drop in the alley, as she bore it in her left hand. Her right held her copper wand.

"How could you let him do this?" I asked hoarsely. "She's just a girl. He's just a boy. They're just kids."

"They will serve a greater purpose than any they could have hoped for," she said, apparently not realizing she sounded like the poster child for _Mad Magicians Monthly_.

"Are they dead?" My voice was soft, barely a whisper. For some reason, I didn't want what was left of them to hear her answer.

"The boy died," she confirmed. "But Yannis is concerned with how weak they have become. He has decided to try and bond with the still living, in hopes that their power will not be as diminished."

"Peña and Somboon are _weak?_ " I asked, feeling a little sick to my stomach.

"Their magical and combat capabilities are diminished," she informed me. "They are shadows of what they once were. He is afraid that restoring their souls after death loses something. He has tried something new with the girl, although we do not yet know if he succeeded."

I looked at Penny, feeling a profound sense of loss. I recalled the innocent worry she'd had for my welfare when we'd first met; how she'd run across a battlefield to check on two people she hadn't known. I thought back on the selflessness I'd seen in her as we worked throughout the night, her staff and leaves healing the injured as much as she could, pushing herself beyond her limits. I remembered the girl that had laughed and chatted with Sal, brightening the darkest day of my life with her spirits.

All of that was gone now. There was no trace of that girl in those eyes.

"I will not let him do this," I said softly, turning a hard gaze to Katya. "Not to anyone else."

"Your threat is hollow," she replied, her tone hardening as she pushed me toward a room. "In an hour you will see."

"Why does he even want me?" I growled, my temper flaring. "I'm not a wizard! I have no power!"

"I think it is because of the nymph," the warden said. "He needs her, which means he needs you."

With that, the woman closed the feeble door they'd constructed. It was symbolic at best; I could kick it open if needed. The real security lay beyond the door, in the two thralls I would have to face if I fled. Two thralls which I would not be able to hurt, even in their current state.

So she left me, thinking that she and her master had cornered me. Thinking that they had taken away my hope. And perhaps they had.

But her final words had restored it.

* * *

I quickly inspected my prison, which didn't take long. It was a large room, consisting of a stone floor, four stone walls, and four stone columns supporting the stone ceiling. Stone, stone, everywhere, and not a sandstone snap to throw.

There were two arched windows on the outer wall that looked out over the city. Glancing outside, I could see where the small town on the mountain sloped away. Due to the nature of the town's construction, there was a roof of another building below the window, but the drop looked perilously far. Had I had my snap bracelet, I might have considered using a wind funnel spell to slow my descent. It looked like the houses all connected together, and a series of small leaps might allow me to run across all the way through the village.

The only problem was taking that first step.

There was no outer ledge; the exterior wall was smooth all the way down, with no footholds for me to use. Even if I'd crawled out and hung down as low as I could, the drop would likely end with a broken limb or two. At best, I 'd earn myself some sprained ankles, which wouldn't really help with the whole leaping from roof to roof thing.

My hour passed, and the others came for me.

The door opened, and I heard Katya start to speak, "It is time— what are you doing?"

What I was doing was sitting Indian style on the window ledge, having spent most of the hour meditating. I felt as energized as I'd ever felt with self-meditation, which was well short of even the slightest session with Anya. But I'd done what I could to prepare myself.

I opened my eyes to find Katya and Peña standing just inside the door.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, let's get this over with." I sat up, and draped my waist over the window so that my legs were dangling out.

"Are you mad?!" Katya shouted, taking a step forward.

"Don't come any closer!" I shouted as I slid further out. "I'll jump!"

"You are already doing that!" she shouted back. But she didn't come any closer.

I slipped the rest of the way out the window, with my grip on the inner ledge the only thing from preventing my fall. Then it was just my fingertips, as I went all or nothing. "On second thought, help!"

"Get him, before he kills himself!" Katya shouted.

"I think my hands are slipping!" I called out, not entirely joking.

Peña was there in a flash, his large hand gripping one wrist while another reached out to grab my collar. The larger man started hauling me up by brute strength alone, with Katya watching on. When he had me, I grabbed his arm and collar as well. My bare feet kicked against the stone wall, twisting him slightly as I tried to make sure I didn't fall.

"Stop struggling!" Katya said. My efforts were complicating matters, and I ended up pulling Peña off balance. He dipped dangerously far outside the opening just as I got my feet planted on the window ledge.

Then, I pulled him out the window, and pushed off with my feet.

As I propelled us out, I made sure to twist while I still had leverage. The warden's feet kicked out as well, but couldn't gain enough purchase to affect our descent. When we both finally cleared the building, Peña was beneath me, and I did my best to make sure he remained there.

Look, I saw it in a movie or television show once, and I was pretty sure it worked out okay then, too.

The drop was only several stories, and Peña didn't have time to adjust. I saw his eyes widen as he realized what was going to happen, and he took appropriate measures. The earth mage's spell lashed out a mere second before we landed, but it was enough. The stone roof of the building beneath us splashed like sand, and then we were crashing through to the top floor.

My weight landed on top of the wizard, and I heard ribs crack beneath me. Thankfully they weren't mine this time, although the experience wasn't all that pleasant for me either. I managed to recover from the landing a lot faster than he did, and snapped out a couple punches.

They dazed him, which was enough to buy me the time I needed to get the hell out of there.

I ran out the door of the room, and then down the stairs, leaping over the dead in the process. I was out the front in a flash, stepping over a couple bodies as I ran across the narrow ledge that counted as a street, and then I jumped into open space.

There was a second there when I began to question my plan. I'd been hoping that Peña would be with Katya when she came for me. I could have made do with Somboon as well, but it probably would have ended bloodier. If Katya had come alone, then I would have felt bad about her death, but I'd live it with. Hopefully.

Once we were out the window, there were really only two options. The first was that Peña did nothing to soften our fall, which meant being on top was essential. Assuming I survived, I'd set off down the series of roofs on that level, which would carry a good distance toward my destination.

The second option was what transpired, resulting in me having to jump down to the next level I'd seen, a much shorter jump that could have gone much worse than it did. My landing wasn't stellar, but I rolled with it, and then I was on my feet, jumping down to the adjacent roof. One after the other, I made my way down the curving row of ancient buildings, all while shouts called out from atop the hill.

The first problem with my plan came earlier than expected. I'd seen from my window that there was a gap between the upper section of town and the lower section. I'd only been in the higher area, and knew nothing of what awaited me once I ran out of houses to jump on. At some point I'd have to descend to the surface, where I'd have to contend with the zombies lying all over the place.

What I hadn't expected was for one of the ancient ceilings to give way under me, leaving me falling into the one of the houses.

I landed hard, with rubble cascading across my back as I fumbled through the room. It was made more difficult by the mass of bodies lying on the floor, the stench of which made me gag.

"Oh God," I exclaimed as I pushed myself up off the zombies, my fingers pressing into intestines on one side and an eye-socket on the other. I did by best not to hurl as I slipped across the slick floor, stirring up a cloud of green mist in the process.

And then the first of the undead began to rise.

They weren't like zombies you see in the movies or on television. There was only a limited number of them that had enough flesh and tendons to hold themselves together. What the bodies lacked had to be compensated for magically.

As they began to shift about, supernatural flesh began to spread across them, a ghostly green substance similar to the mist I'd seen in the graveyard. It swelled as they became active, filling the room.

"Excuse me," I said to what was left of a woman that was entirely too fresh, who happened to grasp at me as I slipped by. "Sorry! Hey, not the junk!"

I ended up pushing my way through the one-story home, and then I was out the door and into the street. Every inch of the road seemed to be covered in the dead, and all of them began to shift and rise as I darted around them.

"No wonder they weren't guarding me to begin with," I gasped as I avoided the grasping fingers of a skeleton, the flesh slowly filling in as it absorbed the mist to itself. "These things probably would have made a ruckus if I'd headed the wrong way."

I ran as fast as I could, which isn't very fast when the road is made of the dead. It took me a precious few minutes to reach the end of the upper level, and then I was sliding down a steep rocky slope toward the lower tier.

"Fuck!" I shouted as I bounced, and ended up rolling end over end for a minute.

There was a flight of steps I could have used, but it was covered in the rising dead. I managed to slow my descent, and then skidded to a stop just short of the steps. The zombies ahead of me were still pulling themselves together, but there was no way I'd make it down the steps.

Looking out, I saw the first of the lower tier houses. There was one not too far from the cliff beside the stairway, but it was at least five yards out. Trying to make that jump would be nerve-wracking without knowing that if I fell short, I'd be pulled to pieces by a thousand corpses.

I glanced behind me, and saw Peña not forty yards up slope and coming fast. Because of _course_ he could ride a wave of earth down the hill without any issue, his magic knocking zombies aside as he came.

Knowing I was out of options, I turned and ran, jumping out to the far roof.

I made it, but only barely. A zombie grabbing my ankle at the last second hadn't helped my momentum, but it hadn't been fully formed, so the hand came with me. I pried it off once I was on the roof and tossed it aside, and then I was leaping from one building to the next, hoping I could outrun the enthralled warden.

The wave of waking dead had well exceeded my escape, and as I ran and leapt, angry forms raged and flailed in the streets beneath me. As long as none of them could reach the tops of the buildings, I'd be fine.

I was halfway through the lower section when the roof I was running across buckled, and I was sent tumbling toward the edge.

I managed to skid to a stop before I fell off, and pulled myself back onto the roof just as Peña rode his earthen wave up to the top of the two-story structure.

"Shit," I said as I scrambled to my feet, backing away to one side, trying to keep some distance between myself and the man that had just unsheathed his sword. "Let's talk about this."

The thrall remained silent as he stalked forward, his bare sword held at his side.

"I give up! I surrender!" I said, raising my hands.

The warden feinted to my left, and I moved away, only to meet his sword thrust when he adjusted. The tip sank into the Balaur leather jacket I wore, which I knew from experience was just as tough as the dragon skin itself.

And just like the dragon skin, the leather was no match for an enchanted sword.

The sword cut through the leather as if it were bought off the rack, and sank into my gut. I felt the tip punch through my lower back after making its way through my intestines.

I stared at the man in shock, my fingers grasping at the blade, as if I could pull it from my body; as if I could undo what he'd done. I tried to think of what to do, but my mind was frozen. My mouth worked, but nothing came.

I was held there, pinned on his sword, until he suddenly ripped it to the side. The blade shredded my flesh, and I fell to the rooftop, a nauseas quivering sensation rippling through me as my intestines worked their way out of my body.

There was… there was something I could do. I was sure of it. There was… there was something I could say that could undo this. Make it better. It didn't end like this. There had to be more.

I stared up from the roof, looking into the eyes of the man that had just gutted me. There was no light to see by, save for the faint green glow in his eyes. The sky was overcast, so no stars would see me on my way.

My feet kicked feebly, sliding across the roof without finding traction, as the warden stepped forward, raising his sword for a mercy blow. I couldn't raise my hands to ward off the attack; I was too busy trying to hold myself together.

My head fell back as my heart struggled to beat. I had lost too much blood. I could feel it pooling beneath me, until everything started to go numb. I could feel it in my breath, bubbles forming at the corners of my lips. I tried to turn to look at the man, but I couldn't move my head from where it'd fallen. I couldn't move anything.

Time seemed to slow down at the end. The sky was so dark. So dark. Shadows flickered, blackness. Red. Red eyes in shadows. A cry, inhuman. A clash of steel. A wrenching sensation.

And then…


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

…There was grit between my toes.

I blinked away the sunlight, holding a hand up to shield my eyes. The light hurt, as if I'd been in a dark place that was suddenly illuminated. Which didn't make sense. I was in the field.

I couldn't recall how I'd gotten there, but I remembered it. From another time. When was… was it a dream? I remembered the path I was on, and the grassy field surrounding it. There were flowers, and a smattering of trees here and there. There were hills in the distance; snow-capped mountains stretching up to the clouds. I was sure of that, even without looking around. It was a familiar dream I'd forgotten, a long time ago.

An old dream, but somehow fresh. Had I dreamt it recently?

I stepped off the path, and knelt next to one of the flowers. It was a violet; I'm not sure how I knew that. I wasn't very good with flowers. I couldn't describe its color. Something between purple and fire and moonlight shining through a bedroom window onto silken sheets. No, that was wrong. Those last two weren't colors. Were they?

I smelled the flower, but pulled away quickly. It smelled like alcohol, or maybe disinfectant. That wasn't right.

I stepped back onto the path, and started walking. I knew the way. I'd walked it before, when my stride had been shorter. Or had I?

There was a shooting pain in my chest, and I staggered to a stop along the path. I grabbed at it, the agony shooting like lightning. It struck again, causing my heart to shutter—

— "-ear!" someone shouted. My eyes shot open as my entire body shook. I tried looking around, and saw familiar faces without names. One was just over my chest, withdrawing his half-gloved hands from my chest and side.

"Stop, that did it!" someone else called, a familiar one. One that I'd heard often of late. I couldn't see her. My vision had faded almost as soon as it'd returned. But I knew that she was beside me. She sounded distraught.

"No, hold it closed!" another person shouted angrily.

"What do you think I'm _doing_ , boy?!" an older voice responded.

"I will cauterize it," said a familiar voice that wasn't familiar after all. It was wrong. Close, but wrong. "Hold both sides together."

"Please wait, lovely creature. I have almost stopped the internal-" —

— stumbled to my knees on the path. What had happened? There'd been a pain… and then I'd fallen. I'm not sure where that pain had come from. It had fled fast enough. Which was for the best. Wasn't it?

I stood tentatively, afraid of another lightning bolt. But after a few moments, my concerns faded away. I was fine. What had I even been worried about?

My feet carried me forward. I knew the way. I'd been here before. Hadn't I?

The field was serene. I heard birds in the distance, calling to each other. A flap of wings. Red eyes. Shadows.

No.

That was wrong.

Where had that been?

I continued on, finding myself whisting a tune. I couldn't recall where I'd learned it. No, that wasn't right. My sister had taught it to me. I couldn't recall where she'd learned it, but I knew she'd taught it to me. That had been just before…

Just before…

Where was I?

Oh. The path. That's right. I was walking down the path. I knew the way.

I whistled the tune, skipping as I went. It wasn't much further. I'd been this way before. But I didn't recall the bees. Had they been here? I stopped to watch them, and they swarmed closer. Their dance was a furious, angry motion. They darted close, and the first one stung me. I shouted in surprise. Then the next swooped in, the swarm of them stinging me along the left side of my stomach. It hurt, how they worked their way across—

— "-most done," the angry voice said. "Hold him _still_ , dammit! I don't want to punch one too deep!" There was a popping pressure down on my left side, twinges of pain shooting in two at a time.

"Woody, can you hear me?" I turned my head in that direction, and saw a flash of silver curling on a pretty face. "Please hear me."

My vision wavered in and out with her voice. As if I could see her only when she spoke, her face fading in a blurry sphere of sound. Another voice sounded, and when they did, I could see them as well.

"Wipe the blood away," the calm voice said, bringing visions of a bald head. It wasn't looking at me.

There was a light pressure low on my stomach. "That's as clean as its going to get," the old voice said, a vague image of wild hair warbling in and out of sight.

"Alright. You need to draw a circle, and then ten pedals on the outside."

"Woody, you need to meditate," the sweet voice said, the one with the pretty silver. It sounded so worried, though. Was she crying?

"Shit! Hold him! He's convul-"—

— stinging me. I shooed them away, and the bees retreated, angrily buzzing as they fled.

I looked to my stomach, and saw where they'd stung. There were two neat rows of stings running parallel to each other, going all the way around my side. They were angry and swollen, but they didn't hurt as much as I thought they would.

I rubbed at them, and then looked around the path. I was almost there. I continued on, skipping and whistling. I was almost there. And then maybe my parents would take me out for ice-cream. I loved mint chocolate chip. That was my favorite.

But no. They wouldn't take me out. They hadn't taken me out much since…

Since…

When was it?

Since my sister went away.

I stopped skipping.

I was there.

The world seemed to throb around me, my vision pulsing as I looked at the fork in the path.

It was right where I knew it'd be. I'd been there before. A long time ago. It wasn't real. It was a dream. I remembered the dream.

It was the same this time. A fork in the path. The field had come to an end, with a forest spreading out before me. The path was shaped like a 'Y', each route heading off to either side of the forest.

The wind swirled around me, the gale pitching high as it soared, sounding like a voice.

 _…_ _choose…_

I looked down the path to my right. I was right-handed, but my mother had always insisted I practice with both hands. That was important. Write with both hands. Shoot with both hands. Right-handers were doers; left-handers were thinkers. Be both.

I looked down the right-hand path.

It was a short path, but wide. A dirt path with cobbles, a hard path that would wear one down. It turned back and forth, meandering to and fro without rhyme or reason. There were gardens, and bogs, and forests, and deserts. There were up-hill battles, and slopes easy to descend. There were other paths crossing that one, some for short times, some for longer stretches. The path wound out of sight, so I wasn't sure exactly where it went, but I knew that it was only so long. Long enough, perhaps. It would be tiring. It would take a lifetime, but no more. And there was always a chance that I might not make it to the end, might not go as far as I wanted…

 _…_ _choose…_

I looked down the path to my left. I wasn't left-handed, and my father said that was a good thing. Left-handed people got into trouble. Don't trust a left-handed person, he'd said. Don't take the left-handed path, he'd said. I wondered if he meant this path.

I looked down the left-hand path.

It was a long path, but narrow. It was straight, and smooth, and pristine, and unblemished by crossroads. There were incredible places and impossible things all along the path, but the grasses to either side were sharp, and would cut your feet should you stray. There was no need to stray, though, because you could see it all from the path. It went on and on, and though it continued far past where I could see, I knew it went further still. A long path, perhaps too long. It would be exciting. It would take an eternity to see it all, if not more. And there was a chance that it might never end, a lonely path that crossed no other…

 _…_ _choose…_

Choose? What did the wind mean? I remembered this place. I had already—

— "gain!" an angry voice said.

"No, he's back!" the sobbing one shouted.

"Oh, thank God," the one over me said, his gloves crackling with energy. My chest hurt. My side hurt. Everything hurt. There was pain everywhere.

"No, a little bigger," the calm one said.

"Boy, I know how to paint a tattva."

"Woody, you need to meditate."

"Is that it?"

"No, he needs to paint _ram_."

"…telling _me_ how to paint."

"Woody, please."

"There, is that good enough?"

"Yes. Everyone stand back. Outside the circle."

"I'm not leaving his side!"

"Anya, you have to—"

"Come, girl, you can't break the circle."

"But-"—

— chosen.

Hadn't I?

I'd been here before.

Yes. In the dream. I'd been here, and I'd started down the path…

And then I'd seen it.

I took a step forward, choosing neither path. I stepped off the dusty trail and into the grass, where the forest reached out. Just as I'd done before. There was… if you leaned just right…

Yes, there. In the forest, between those two trees.

There was a third path.

A path of my own making.

It was no more than a game trail, a faint depression in the ground marking the way. It led through the forest. It was a hard path, but a long one. A winding path, cutting between the other two. It could not cross the one, but it might cross the other on its way back through. It would show me things from both paths. And if I traveled it long enough, it would take me…

Where would it take me?

Hadn't I traveled it already?

As I stepped onto the path, I couldn't recall. Had it been just a dream—

— "-pha!" someone said, and my world exploded into white light.

I screamed, and then there was nothing.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

I awoke to a slow, recurring beep.

My eyelids were heavy, but I managed to pry them open to take a look around.

The room I found myself in was a storage room of some sort, with old stone walls and wooden shelving units placed around them. A single bulb hanging overhead provided the only illumination. There was a wheelchair tucked away into one corner, and a couple stools beside the cot I rested upon.

The beep was coming from an infusion pump on a rack beside the cot. There was an intravenous line in my left arm, and a capped IV needle in my right. I could feel bandages wrapped snuggly around my torso. There was pressure there, but no pain. I didn't feel pain anywhere, for that matter. Only a bone-deep weariness that permeated my being.

I peeled back the sheet covering me, and saw that I was wearing a pair of scrubs. There was no sign of my leathers, but I trusted someone had tucked them away somewhere safe. The rest of my gear was most likely back in Anavatos, where I'd had to abandon it.

I managed to get to my feet, but the exhaustion quickly took its toll. I sat back down, and then looked to the wheelchair. There was a pole for a fluid bag attached to the back.

It took me a couple minutes to gather the strength to transition to the wheelchair, but I managed to do so without falling over. With the bag hanging overhead, I started to wheel my way out of the room. I had to stop frequently, my arms burning at the effort. It took maybe fifteen minutes to travel as many feet, leaving me sagging in the chair in a hallway.

That's where the woman found me, her eyes wide as she approached.

"You are awake," she said as she drew to a stop before me. She was older, more gray hair than brown, with deep lines in her face carved by happiness and sorrow.

I just nodded. "I understand you speak Greek?" I nodded again, figuring the power Rose had given me was still working. She looked like she might be a native to the island, and the movements of her lips didn't match the words I heard.

"The others said you would recover quickly, but I do not think they expected you to be up so soon. Do you need to use the restroom?"

I nodded a third time, and the woman moved behind to push the wheelchair. "My name is Kyveli," she said. "Your friends asked that I look over you."

"Where are they?" I asked, my tongue thick and my mouth dry.

"They are busy elsewhere," she said vaguely. "I will take you to them."

Our first stop was a restroom, which I managed to thankfully use on my own. I drank some water from the old sink, the faucet leaving a metallic flavor in my mouth. Then I wheeled myself back out into the hall, and Kyveli took over, navigating us through the bare stone halls.

"How long was I out?" I asked her. I had that disoriented feeling you get after waking up from a longer nap than you intended.

"The others brought you to us hours ago," she said, surprising me with her answer. "You were already unconscious, and had lost a lot of blood."

I glanced at the thick IV needle in my right arm. "Blood transfusion?"

"Yes," she confirmed. "You lost a lot. Too much."

"How much?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder as she pushed the chair.

She just pushed me on. "Too much."

We reached a door, and she stepped ahead to open it. I saw that it lead outside, and as she pushed me out, I stared up into a dark and turbulent sky.

"What time is it?" I asked, noting that there was no sign of the sun. The cloud cover blanketed the world from horizon to horizon. Lightning flashed overhead, arcing between the clouds as thunder crashed over the land. But despite the violent power overhead, no rain fell.

Much closer, hanging low in the sky and permeating the air, was the smoke from the fires raging to the west.

"Just after noon," she informed me as we made our way across a green open space atop what looked like an old battlement or fort wall. To our right was a small section of town within the barrier, and I could make out the oceanfront beyond; to the left, the town rolled out, clearly much larger and modern than anything I'd seen so far on the island.

Noting my attention, Kyveli said, "This is the old fort in Chios."

" _In_ Chios?" I asked, confused. "I thought that was the name of the island?"

It was apparently a common enough question, as she explained with a practiced tone. "Chios Town is the largest city on the island of Chios. Over half the population lives within the city limits, over twenty-five thousand."

That was a lot more than any of the towns I'd visited. Those had each sported a few hundred to perhaps a thousand at most.

She wheeled me to another section of the fort, a rounded stone room atop the battlements. As we entered, I saw that there were old lookout ports along the outer wall, looking over the town. I thought it odd that it would be facing that way rather than the sea, but then realized that the fort predated the expansion of the town.

As soon as we were inside, the battery operated infusion pump squawked, before going dark.

It was obvious to see why.

The room was well lit, although the lights that hung overhead were dark. Instead, lanterns emitting a warm golden light floated across the space, warding off the dark. They were clearly magical in manufacture, and the power fueling them was more than enough to interfere with any modern technology. Mortal magic came at a cost.

In the center of the room was a low table with a series of maps spread across it. One was of the island; another of what I took to be Chios Town, which sat along the eastern coastline. The maps were mundane, but the magics working over them were most assuredly not.

Motes of light sparked as they floated above the paper. Some were individual sparks of blue light, while others burned with different colors. What looked like a wall of red wavered over a meandering line to the west of the city. Further out, a sea of green specks dotted the landscape. To the southwest, a blob of purple flickered, seeming to creep forward toward the city at a slow but consistent pace.

Beside the table were several people studying the map. Some I knew; some I didn't. Another table was set aside, and sported a collection of stones that sat atop a lattice of painted lines and marks.

With our arrival, several faces turned our way. One of which was Argondian, who's tired and defeated expression gave way to a relieved smile. "Good to see you, Mister Hayes."

"Thanks," I said, looking over the odd assortment of people and things. The bald head of Wizard Nelson nodded from his seat beside the map table. I nodded back. I was glad to see him alive; at least he'd managed to escape the trap.

A man standing beside him stepped over, and I took a moment to look him up and down. He was older than me, but much younger than Argondian. His hair was still dark, and he sported a natural tan. It looked like the wrinkles of his face had only just begun to establish themselves.

He was dressed well, his dark suit and white shirt seemingly out of place beside the bright and eclectic clothing of the older wizard. It was particularly at odds with the girl at the table of stones, who looked like she was auditioning for Goth Chick Number 2 in some teen movie.

Her skin was pale, as if she spent little time outside, but made even more stark by the white make-up she wore. Dark eyeliner encircled her eyes, much darker than was the rage with girls those days. Her hair was dark where it hadn't been died snow-white, giving her a bit of a Cruella DeVille appearance.

The clothing she wore was your typical goth chick wear: black shirt beneath black hoodie, a black skirt over black lace leggings and leather boots. There were half a dozen silver piercings in each ear, with more in her nose and lip. A crystal cut into an oval teardrop and set in silver sparkled atop her modest chest, and more silver dangled from her wrists and fingers. There was even a tight choker across her throat, with a series of small silver handcuffs interlinked all around it.

I knew in a heartbeat that if Anya met this girl, we'd be in serious trouble.

"Mr. Hayes," the well dressed man said, his Italian accent surprising me as he stepped forward and offered his hand. I took it. "My name is Bassillo Vaccaro. A pleasure to meet you."

I recalled the name. The others had said they'd been reporting back to a man named Vaccaro, who was the communications officer for the Chios teams.

"This is my apprentice, Amy," he said, gesturing to the girl. She nodded, and I was amazed that the two had anything to do with one another.

"Nice to meet you," I said. I didn't offer my name, since I was still working with some caution when it came to wizards. Besides, it seemed they'd already heard of me.

"I'm surprised you're up already," Argondian said as the others returned their attentions to the tables. "You were at death's door when the Keres delivered you to us."

"The what?" I asked, not recognizing the term.

"The Keres," he repeated, before waggling a wrinkled hand. "You might consider them the Greek version of a Valkyrie; a winged being that shepherds the souls of warriors."

Red eyes. Shadows. The flap of wings.

"I've never heard of them," I said softly.

"The Keres are one of the servants of Hades," Kyveli explained. "They escort those who fall in battle to Judgment."

"I thought that's what the Hound was for," I said, my head dizzying for a second.

"The Hounds of Hades shepherd those who shall likely face punishment upon their day of judgment," the Greek woman said. She spoke not as if she were reciting ancient mythology, but the way of the world. "The Keres shepherd warriors that fall in battle, and the Lampads shepherd the good and the just."

"And one of these Keres brought me to you?" I asked Argondian.

The old wizard nodded, his gray beard bobbing. "It seems that one was tasked with watching over you. When she saw you trying to escape, she retrieved you, and brought you to us."

I recalled Peña gutting me, and couldn't help but shiver. "I thought I was dead."

A nervous look crossed Argondian's face. "Well, to be honest, boy, you were."

I struggled for words for a moment, before settling for, "I what?"

"Several times over," he said softly. "Peña's thrust killed you. But the Keres… kept your soul from moving on. Later, Rose was forced to do the same, as we worked to repair the damage."

My stomach turned over, and I had to keep the water I'd drank from coming back up. My hand drifted to my side, where I could feel the bandages beneath my scrub shirt.

"Do you recall any of it?" Argondian asked softly.

"No," I said with a slight shake of my head. "I remember… I remember the roof. And Peña stabbing me. I remember falling. And then…" I strained, as if there were something else, something just beyond the reach of my memory. "Then I was in the room here in the fort."

The man nodded. "You were in and out while we worked on you," he said. "I used my water magics to try and heal the damage inside, while Moretti tried to put you back together. Young Simon had to revive you several times, and Nelson designed the chakra circle that triggered your healing."

"Chakra…" I said, my hand drifting from my side to my stomach. But then something else he said registered. "Wait, you said Moretti?"

Argondian nodded. "Ah, yes. I suppose the last you saw of him, he was in some trouble."

"I thought he was dead," I confessed. Otherwise I wouldn't have been so ready to abandon him.

"That man is one of the strongest in his generation," the old wizard said with some admiration. "He survived the collapsed wall, and would have come to you and the others, but Rose took him into the Ways. She did the same for Nelson once he was away from Yannis."

Which explained why I hadn't seen Moretti among Salvago's ranks in Anavatos. And how Nelson managed to escape.

"Anavatos," I said suddenly. "Salvago is in Anavatos—"

"We know, boy," Argondian said gently. "The Keres told Rose where she'd found you, but you said as much yourself. You came to several times while we were giving you blood."

"Penny," I said softly, recalling her blank stare.

"I know," the old man said, his voice thickening with emotion as he looked away. "It was the first thing you said."

"He…" I trailed off, fighting back tears. "He's done something to her, and the others. Put a piece of himself into them, to control them. He said… he said it was a piece of his soul."

Argondian's head rocked back, and even Vaccaro looked over from where he was. The two shared a look. "You don't think?" Vaccaro said, his voice troubled.

"No, he would never…" Argondian began. "But if anyone would know how, it would be Yannis."

"What?" I asked. The two ignored me.

"You said the Hound was sent after him," Vaccaro continued. "But that he somehow took control of it."

"Would that work?" Argondian asked with a frown. "Could he use the Hound as a phylactery?"

"It's not my area," the suited wizard said with a shake of his head. "But it would explain things."

"What's a phyl… phyladactory?" I asked.

"A phylactery," Argondian corrected. "It is an object used by necromancers. It is a form of the darkest magics, a way that one can prolong their life. By placing a portion of their soul into an object, to keep a part of them in the world should they die."

"Oh," I said, with surprising understanding. "A horcrux."

The wizard blinked at me, not recognizing the term, so I explained. "A horcrux. You know, the things that Voldemort…" I looked between the two older wizards. "From the books? And the movies?"

The two wizards looked to each other. "Seriously?" I asked, amazed. "You guys… c'mon. It's like the biggest franchise of the last decade."

Amy, the girl at the far table, snorted. "They don't really stay on top of pop culture."

"There are books about this?" Vaccaro said with a frown. "That seems like something we wouldn't want to have in circulation. Have the wardens reviewed them?"

"They don't say how to do it," Amy of the Goth Clan said with a roll of her eyes.

Argondian seemed put out that he didn't know what we were talking about. "Well, regardless, a phylactery keeps the soul tied to earth. But I've never heard of using a living being as one."

I was about to tell him about the snake horcrux, and the Boy Who Lived, but decided not to complicate matters. "Assuming he can, then it explains how he's controlling Violet and the Hound, right?"

"Yes," the older wizard said with a nod. "As soulless beings, they may serve as vessels just as an object would."

"Soulless?" I said, my temper flaring. As it did, my head grew dizzy, and I found the room spinning around me. Maybe my blood-sugar was low. Or maybe just my blood level.

"Apologies," Argondian said, sensing my anger. "As creatures of magic, they are… different from the living. Perhaps they have souls; no-one knows for sure," he said, although it sounded like he had an opinion on the matter. "Regardless, what they lack is free will. If he imbued them with a piece of himself, they would not be able to resist."

I wasn't so sure of that. I recalled the wall of purple flame that had shielded me from Salvago's killing blow in the town. And the comment Katya had made, that Yannis needed me alive to ensure Violet's cooperation.

Soul or no, she was still in there. She might not be in control, but she wasn't some mindless automaton that only fulfilled some magical purpose.

"If free will were enough to resist him, the others wouldn't be serving him," I said. "There's got to be more to it than that."

The old man nodded, conceding the point. "Either way, it seems that he may have used such necromantic powers to control them, while sustaining his own life." A dark look crossed Argondian's features. "Which, if he was mortally wounded…"

"… would mean he is no longer truly alive," Vaccaro finished, looking grim. "It would make him a Lich."

"A lich?" I asked, even as the girl Amy said, "Whoa," her eyes wide with interest.

"A lich is an undead thing," Argondian said. "It is said that wizards and sorcerers imbue their soul, their spirit, their intellect, into an object. Their body can waste away, but they continue on in an undead state."

I thought of Salvago's cadaverous look. "It sounds like him."

"Which would make the others Revenants," Vaccaro said, sounding more worried by the minute. He turned to me. "Argondian said you saw the Hound take something from Rai?"

"Yes," I said, casting a glance at Nelson. He'd paled somewhat, but kept his attention on the map.

"It sounds as if he made the Hound into a phylactery," Vaccaro said with a nod. "And he is using the Hound to capture the souls of the dead, and returning them to their bodies, thus creating Revenants. Wizard Revenants at that, which retain their powers, but not the free will of the living."

"Katya said that they're weaker, though," I informed them. At the name, both turned to me. "Oh, yeah. Katya's not a Revenant. She joined Salvago willingly."

Argondian cursed in French, while Vaccaro simply shook his head. "Impossible. What could make her turn against us?"

"He told me," I said, looking between them. "He told me why he's doing all of this."

I told the others about the history of Anavatos, with Kyveli adding what she knew of the tragic history of the town. I went on to explain about the betrayals that Salvago had described, some of which seemed all too familiar to the others. And I finally told them about the rage and madness I'd seen in Salvago.

"But how?" Vaccaro asked when I was through. "It's only been a few days. How has he gone from a law-abiding warden to a Lich making Revenants and raising an army of the dead in just a few days?"

"This is Yannis we're talking about," Argondian reminded him. "The expert on the undead Black Court; the man that studied Kemmler and his disciples for decades. If he truly has lost his humanity, while gaining the powers of the Lampad and the Hound, then there's no telling what he might be capable of."

Vaccaro just shook his head sadly. "I'd feel better if someone from the Senior Council could have been spared."

"Not with the trial starting…" Argondian trailed off. "Now, actually. None of them could miss it; not with the implications. The Merlin will need to save face, if he can, and there will be a power struggle to replace LaFortier."

"Trial?" I asked.

At my question, Argondian nodded. "They found Warden Morgan. In Chicago, of all places."

Vaccaro shot the older wizard an disapproving look, to which the white-haired man just shrugged. "I forget young Hayes here is not of the Council."

I was too busy shaking my head. Because of _course_ he'd have been in Chicago. Because Guess Who was a magnet for trouble and mayhem. I'd tried to warn them.

"They're approaching the ward lamps," Nelson said softly as he studied the map. The others turned about, and I saw the thousands of green specks had gathered outside the wavering wall of white. More red fire had blossomed to the northwest of the city, trapping the green embers between two raging infernos.

"Looks like Wizard Fors succeeded in starting the second blaze," Vaccaro said with an approving nod.

"What?" I asked, looking at the map. "Someone started that fire intentionally?"

"Of course," he replied with a frown, before remembering that I had no clue what was happening. "We're pinning Salvago's army between the two, to narrow his attack points."

"Army?" I said, looking around. Argondian just nodded, his face grim as he looked to the map.

"Within the next few minutes, an army of over a thousand undead monsters will be at the city lines," the old wizard said as he turned back to me. "You've awakened in time to witness the Siege of Chios."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

I looked from the wizard to the map, and the thousands of green motes that were approaching the shimmering white curtain.

"Why?" I began. "How?"

"Chios is the main city of the island," Kyveli explained. "If he takes Chios, and the ports, then he will control most of the island's resources."

"But that's not…" I said, trailing off. "He was taking the people to hypnotize them. To prevent that corruption he was talking about."

Argondian shook his head sadly. "First thing this morning, he began moving the undead out of Anavatos. At first we were not sure of his intentions, but Amy saw what was to transpire."

I turned to the girl, who wouldn't meet my gaze. "Amy suffers from Cassandra's Tears," Vaccaro said softly. "She has visions of things to come. She saw the coming of the undead army, laying waste to the city and its inhabitants. It's what forced us to act in greater numbers, despite the attention surrounding the trial." Kyveli whispered a soft prayer somewhere behind me, and I caught the name Apollo. "Although if we'd known just how bad things were going to be, I would have insisted on more."

I looked again to the girl, but she was suddenly quite busy with the table of stones. "So how many did you bring?" I asked. "How many of us are facing a few thousand zombies?"

Vaccaro pursed his lips tightly. "I was able to bring two wizards with Amy and myself. With Argondian and the others, we have eight Wizards of the White Council to face what is coming."

I stared at him, slack jawed. When he saw me, he quickly added. "Your friends, the goblin, the vampire, and the salamander, have agreed to help as well. As have Kyveli and her sisters."

"But… but…" I said, stunned by the overwhelming odds against us. "He's got six wizards, including himself. Not to mention Violet and the Hound."

"As I said, you woke to witness the fall of the city," Argondian said softly, which drew a disapproving frown from Vaccaro.

"I'm not so resigned to our defeat," the well-dressed man stated, his Italian accent thickening. "The Council has considerable experience fighting against the undead. We have countermeasures against just this sort of thing." The man looked back at the map. "But if we're going to be in position, we need to go."

Argondian nodded, and then turned to me. "Mister Hayes, if you feel up to it, could you stay with young Nelson and Amy, to assist them as needed? Bassillo and I will need to take up positions to defend the ward lamps."

"Uh, sure," I said, nodding. I think he was just asking to be polite; there was no way I was up for anything yet.

The man nodded, and then the two elder wizards departed, with Kyveli escorting them out. Nelson waved me over to the map table, and gestured to the lights flickering above it.

"There is a highway encircling the western portion of the city," he said, pointing to the wavering white wall. "We've placed ward lamps out along the road. The crystal skulls are similar to Hoberdy Lanterns, capable of warding off evil spirits. If their light falls upon the undead, it will burn away the magics sustaining them."

"Crystal skulls?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Like those things the Nazis were looking for?"

"They were invaluable during the war," Nelson informed me with an absent nod, not realizing he was all but confirming the conspiracies of countless theorists. "With Kemmler raising undead armies, sometimes a crafted ward lamp was the only thing keeping a town from a gruesome end."

Looking at the map, I could see where there were five bright points along the oscillating wall of light. Each of them had a couple blue motes hovering around them. "Are those them?" I asked, pointing at one of the brighter spots.

Nelson nodded. "Yes. We have crystal foci interspersed between them, acting as repeaters to create a barrier along the western front. The town should be protected from any approach by land."

"And if they pull that trick from the first _Pirates_ movie? Where they walk underwater?" I asked. Amy snorted again, clearly amused that the majority of my magical knowledge was based on popular fiction.

"The fires should keep them funneled toward the wall," Nelson said, pointing. "Argondian was out painting wards along the outermost roads this morning, to try and keep the flames away from the cities. Hopefully we can take care of the zombies before the fires become too much of an issue."

I could see what he was talking about. Chios sprawled along the eastern coast for a fair bit, with another large city just to its north. The fires the wizards had started in the hills kept the green motes that represented the zombies to the south, toward the section of the ward wall they'd defend. But it was still a large area; too large to defend if the zombies broke through.

"What about those blue lights?" I asked.

"That's the others," he said. "Vaccaro and Amy are good at crafting protection charms. Each member of our team has one; the stones work as communicators, trackers, veilers, and lucky charms," he said, smiling at the last.

"Veilers?" I asked. Most of the rest I understood.

"The stones distort the light around them. Not enough to affect the bearer's own vision, or prevent them from being seen by anyone up close. But those at a distance won't be able to focus on them."

"Katya," I said darkly, remembering the sniper.

"Exactly," the wizard replied.

"So what now?" I asked.

"Well, I'll monitor the situation here," he said, encompassing the maps as he waved over the table, "and Amy will act as COMMO. If you want, you can help her."

I wheeled my chair over just as Kyveli returned. "I have been in touch with my sisters," she said as she removed the now pump-less IV line from my arm. "The local fire departments are holding at the roads, as are the police and military personnel. They'll only act if the fires approach the city, or if the infected breach the wall."

"The infected?" I asked.

The native woman smiled weakly. "They have been told that the horde of deranged humans currently approaching the city have become infected with a fungal growth made airborne by the burning of the mastic forests."

"Yeah, I'm sure if we survive this, that'll hold up under scrutiny," I said her weakly.

She simply shook her head. "Humanity will believe what it wishes." With that, she moved to the map table. I turned my attention to Amy, who was shifting stones about on her own table.

There was a painted lattice criss-crossing the surface, made of different colored lines and circles. It was no doubt another product of Argondian's, who seemed to paint sigils and runes with more flourish than was technically necessary. The works I'd seen on the low wall outside the old cottage had been elaborate, especially considering he'd done them while injured.

"What can I do?" I asked the girl, who shot a glance at me before reverting her gaze to the stones.

"Each of these are connected to the ward lamps," she said, pointing to five stones in white circles. "Touching them will allow you to remotely view things from that position. These are the stones for the defenders," she said, gesturing to smaller stones in blue circles. "Normally you'd have to touch these to speak with them, but they've been worked into the array. Just touch the ward lamp stones, and you'll be able to speak with the others."

"Just touch them?" I asked. "No spells or anything?"

The girl quickly nodded her head. "You'll need to wear this, and touch the stone with that finger," she said as she shuffled about in what looked like a craft case filled with different stones and crystals. After a moment, she withdrew what looked like a thimble with several stones set into the sides, with etchings surrounding each.

She passed it to me, and I slipped it over the tip of the middle finger on my right hand. When I hesitated, she waved me forward. I touched my capped finger to one of the ward lamp stones, and immediately the world fell away into darkness. After a moment, my vision swirled again, and then I was looking out across the landscape of Chios.

The rolling hills approaching the city were dark under the raging storm, but a white light seemed to encompass the immediate area around the ward lamp. It was enough to reveal the green fog slowly rolling across the ground, preceding the march of the undead. The closer the fog grew to the lamp, the more it dissipated, as if the light itself were burning it away. Based on what the others had said, it might be doing just that.

Whoever was guarding that ward lamp wasn't in sight. I frowned, and wondered if I could only see in the one direction. As I thought about shifting my vision, the view swiveled. It wasn't like being there in person; it was more like looking at a massive, curving flat screen television that was broadcasting the world around the crystal skull. When I thought of turning, the view within the 'screen' shifted around.

"The skull thing just rotated," Anya said as the view stabilized, facing back toward the town. I saw her scowling up at it from below. She was decked out in her white leathers, and was once again armed to the teeth. Someone, most likely Q, had provided her with a sword to replace the one she'd broken while fighting Somboon. It wasn't a match to her short straight sword, but it looked lethal enough.

I noted the black stone in the necklace around her throat, and took it to be her own speaking stone.

"Someone must be looking at us," the guy with her said, giving a short wave to the skull. He was tall, maybe a couple inches over my own six feet, or so it appeared compared to Anya's shorter stature. His hair was short and blond, with fairly pale skin. He was dressed all in black, save for his gray cloak. Rather than a sword, he carried a metal staff.

"That's kind of creepy," Anya said, clearly not at ease with the wizards' toys.

"It's kind of cool," I said, turning the head back and forth with my mind.

" _Woody?!_ " Anya exclaimed as her eyes widened, her pitch arching upward in surprise as she apparently heard me.

"In the flesh," I replied, before realizing that wasn't technically true. "Er, I mean, in the crystal skull."

"Are you okay?" she asked, stepping toward the skull. Her face was worried, but some of the tension I'd seen in her shoulders had fled.

"Fine," I assured her. "Not quite up to full speed yet, but I'm mobile."

"Thank God," she said, and I thought she might have even whispered a prayer. Which was surprising, given as she'd never seemed all that religious.

"You look like you survived the night in one piece," I told her, admiring her leather-clad form without fear of being caught.

" _Ah, the boy teases me. I knew I should have insisted on Miss Raith being paired with myself_ ," Argondian said out of nowhere.

I rotated the skull around, but didn't see him. "Hey, where is he?" I asked.

" _On his way to another skull_ ," Amy said from somewhere close. I could hear her, but not see her. " _When one of the skulls is activated, it links all the speaking stones together_."

"So can they all see each other right now?" I asked.

" _No, just audio_ ," Amy said, and then suddenly she was there with me. It was like she was standing beside me, looking at the IMAX view the skull provided. She'd obviously touched that ward lamp's stone. "Only we can see the others."

" _Glad you_ _'_ _re up and about, Woody_ ," Simon said from off-screen.

"Thanks," I said. "Thanks for everyone helping me… you know. Not die."

" _Just don_ _'_ _t push yourself_ ," Vaccaro voiced.

"I won't," I told him.

" _Woody_ ," Q said, his tone disapproving. " _Is it true a Warden gutted you in one move?_ "

"What? Who—"

" _That_ _'_ _s what the Keres said_ ," the goblin rasped disappointedly. " _That all you did was wiggle and flop like a fish on a hook_."

"It wasn't that simple," I protested. "Amy, how do I…?"

"Remove your finger from this stone," she instructed. "Place it on whichever you want to see from. I recommend leaving your eyes closed. The spell remains active for a few seconds, allowing you to transition without breaking contact."

"How am I supposed to know where the stones are? Much less which one is in front of Q?"

" _Amateurs_ ," Moretti grumbled from elsewhere.

"Good to hear from you too, buddy!" I said, not letting the dour wizard bring me down. These stones were freakin' awesome!

"Look down," Amy said, and I did.

If I looked toward my feet, my view of the landscape fell out of focus, and I found myself staring at the lattice of stones and lines. Rather than paint, each was connected with a glowing string of energy. I could feel the stone I was touching, and shifted over to the ward lamp stone adjacent to the stone and circle with Q's name.

The IMAX view around me shifted, and suddenly I found myself looking out across the landscape of Chios from a slightly different perspective. I rotated it again, and saw Q standing behind where the skull was suspended, either in mid-air, or on a pole of some sort. As I couldn't see directly down, I couldn't be sure.

"Q!" I said, grinning like an idiot. "Good to see you!"

The goblin just shook his head, clearly not as amused as I was. "All of my training gone to waste."

"Hey, I was unarmed!" I argued. "And cornered."

"Then we know what to practice going forward," he said dangerously, a sinister grin revealing his sharp teeth.

He'd released his human-like illusion, leaving him in all his goblin glory. He was clad in his leathers, but his face was the white-green marbling I was used to, and his eyes glowed with a ruby red light.

I shifted my view as something moved in the background, and I saw a moped pull up. Argondian was driving it, and I saw him disembark and walk toward the skull. "Ah, Mister Hayes, has Miss Raith begun her attempts at seducing the young Mister Fors?"

" _You wish_ ," Anya replied from elsewhere.

" _Martin, watch out for that one_ ," Simon voiced. " _She_ _'_ _s tricky. And don't make any bets with her_."

" _Um_ ," the other guy I'd seen said nervously, who I presumed was this Martin Fors. " _We_ _'_ _ve kind of made a bet on who will kill the most zombies_."

"What do you get if you win?" Argondian asked, a little too excited about the prospect. "Is it open to all comers?" I could see his grin from the skull; he was clearly imagining what he might claim.

" _Ugh, no_ ," Anya groaned, all but making me visualize her eyes rolling with the words.

" _Maybe we could double or nothing?_ " Simon asked as I switched from one stone to another. I was pretty sure he wanted out from his debt. But considering just how hot Anya was, maybe he was coming around to the idea of letting her have her way with him.

" _Mmm,_ " Anya replied with a seductive playfulness in her tone. " _Deal. Although how will I know if you_ _'_ _re being honest?_ "

The world shifted again as I touched the new stone, and Simon came into view as I rotated the skull. "I wouldn't lie," Simon said, sounding almost offended.

I noticed another wizard with him, one that looked more like a model than a grizzled wizard. Some part of me was glad Anya hadn't been paired with him. He was young, probably about Anya's age,

"Stenguard will keep me honest," Simon continued, glancing at the other wizard. "Won't you, Lane?"

"Inte innebär mig i dina sexlekar med vampyren," the second guy responded, keeping his eyes forward.

Simon sighed. "C'mon, man, I know you speak English."

"Jag kommer att tala väl om eder efter att hon har förbrukat din ande," Lane replied, a slight smile cracking his lips as he stared out.

" _What_ _'_ _s he saying?_ " Anya asked.

" _Enough chatter_ ," Moretti snapped. " _The necromantic fog has reached my ward lamp_."

" _Don_ _'_ _t worry, young Sergio,_ " Argondian said. " _As you are guarding the station on the right flank, you should hopefully see little to no action._ "

" _I_ should _have been at the center post_ ," Moretti grumbled.

" _You_ _'_ _re the only one of us that can hope to hold a ward lamp on their own,_ " Vaccaro said, either placating the wizard or speaking truthfully. Considering that he was up and mobile after having a wall dropped on him, the former was excusable, and the latter down-right impressive.

But as I did the math, I realized that Moretti being at the far stone alone accounted for everyone. That meant Vaccaro was also alone, unless…

I switched stones, and as the fourth skull turned around, I saw a doberman-sized Sal standing beside the well-dressed wizard.

"Hey Sal!" I called out. "I'm in the skull!" There was a collar around his neck, which is something he never would have let me do. A dark stone glittered from it, and I heard his excited trill in response.

" _Master Argondian, it appears that the undead are approaching your position_ ," Nelson said, sounding very close.

I switched stones again, and was back at Q and Argondian's ward lamp. I rotated the crystal, and then Amy was there with me, looking out into the dark.

The green mist had stopped at the edge of the light emitting from the crystal skull. And beyond it, the shuffling forms of the undead came into view, until they came to a halt just outside the ward lamp's reach.

" _Any sign of Salvago?_ " Nelson asked.

" _He_ _'_ _ll be well back from the front line_ ," Vaccaro said. " _He_ _'_ _ll need to keep his beat going._ "

"Beat?" I asked, even as I recalled the pulsing sound and light from the dark wizard's spear in the graveyard.

"That's how necromancers control the undead," Amy said from beside me. "The pulse acts in place of a heartbeat, allowing him to control them."

" _I can hear it already_ ," Simon said. " _Should I be able to hear it if he_ _'_ _s that far away?_ "

" _He_ _'_ _s an air mage_ ," Vaccaro reminded everyone. " _He_ _'_ _ll probably be able to control zombies anywhere on this side of the mountains_."

" _But the power to do that_ ," Simon murmured. " _To keep that steady beat, controlling all of the zombies, not to mention ordering about Peña and the others_ , _while also generating all this mist?_ "

"Of _course_ ," Argondian said from somewhere behind my view. "That's why he's attacking now. He's using the power from the storm."

" _Dammit, we should have realized that_ ," Vaccaro cursed.

"What's that mean?" I asked, looking upward. I could only see so much of the sky from the skull's view, but the dark clouds flashing with lightning looked as ferocious as they had earlier.

"There's power in nature," Argondian explained. "As an air mage, Salvago is better suited to tapping the power of a thunderstorm than most. He's drawing power down to himself."

" _Do you think that_ _'_ _s why it's not raining?_ " Vaccaro asked.

"Let's hope not," Argondian replied. "If so, then Kyvali and her sisters' efforts will be that much more difficult."

I began to ask what efforts, but a curse from elsewhere distracted me.

" _Shit, Peña is here!_ " Anya shouted.

" _Somboon just appeared at the front of the zombie line!_ " Simon echoed.

The zombies in front of me shifted, and I saw a figure step out from their midst. They were still a good distance away, but I could make out the slight form even from there. Argondian sucked in a breath. "Young Rai is here," he said softly.

" _We_ _'_ _ve got Penny_ ," Vaccaro stated dully.

"Bassillo," Argondian said, a slight pleading in his voice.

" _I_ _'_ _m sorry, Reon_ ," Vaccaro replied. " _We can_ _'_ _t hold back_."

"I understand," Argondian said as Rai strode forward, drawing his samurai sword. The old wizard sighed, a heavy breath filled with regret. "May the Fates watch over us, and weave in our favor."

The lightning overhead crackled as Argondian and Q stepped to either side of the ward lamp, drawing their weapons to face the Revenant before them, even as the others did the same. And quite suddenly, the battle was on, and all I could do was watch.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

A sense of helplessness washed over me as I watched Rai run toward the skull, leaving the army of undead behind him.

Q was gone in a flash, his superior speed carrying him past the ward lamp and toward the oncoming wizard faster than I could track. I knew from experience just how intimidating the sight of a charging goblin could be, but the young wizard did not react. His face was impassive as he whipped his sword down to the side. His lips moved silently as a gust formed from nowhere, enhancing his leap with the wind at his back.

I saw Q skid to a stop as the leap carried the boy overhead. The goblin's arm moved, a blur of motion accompanied the glint of metal as he threw several blades after the boy. Rai must have felt them coming; perhaps his status as an air mage made him acutely aware of inbound attacks, just as Salvago had been aware of my own back in that nameless town.

The boy spun in mid-air, his sword flashing to knock away two of the blades while a palm thrust sent another two spinning out into the night. The fifth slipped past his defenses, and I saw his body jerk as it sank into his right thigh.

Although no blood spilled from the wound, it must have been enough to break the undead wizard's concentration. His wind spell faltered, and he began the long fall toward the ground, his momentum carrying him toward the skull. Q ran back toward the skull, and likely would have met him before Rai reached his target.

Unwilling to risk it, Argondian stepped forward, flinging one side of his blue velvet coat open as he withdrew a vial of paint. Quickly uncorking it, he flicked the vial toward the oncoming wizard, muttering an incantation in some language I didn't recognize.

"Абавязковы!"

The paint arced up, propelled forward under an unseen power. I watched as it splattered against the boy in strategic locations, striking his wrists and ankles. As he hit the ground, his limbs snapped together, bound by the spell.

It was almost enough to buy Q the time he needed to land a killing blow. But the boy rolled as he hit the turf, and came to his knees facing the goblin. I could just make out his jaw moving soundlessly, and then Q was diving aside, the sudden gust of wind only barely clipping his leg as he narrowly avoided being thrown back.

Rai took that time to cast a spell at the bonds holding him, and his limbs broke free just as Argondian unleashed another vial, paint rocketing toward the boy's face. "Маўчанне!"

The blob of paint struck Rai in the face, sealing his mouth in a half-mask of crimson as it quickly hardened. The boy tried to utter another spell, but it seemed he wasn't used to casting without verbalization, even if it was done silently. Instead, he drew the throwing knife from his thigh and flicked it toward Argondian, where it sunk into the older wizard's forearm.

"Ungh!" Argondian groaned, stumbling to a knee as he reached for the blade. He wasn't completely healed from the injuries he'd taken fighting Salvago and the Hound nights earlier, and having three inches of steel in his arm wasn't helping matters.

While he was dealing with that, the young wizard was doing his best to duel the most accomplished fighter I knew.

The goblin moved with incredible speed, which the boy somehow matched using his talents. His spins and twirls were weightless as he parried Q's attacks. Rai was forced to draw his tanto sword to help fend off the barrage from my friend's enchanted blades, and it was obvious who would win in only a matter of seconds.

Q's left-hand sword swiped in a backhand motion, sweeping across Rai's defensive pose. But while the boy could match his speed, he couldn't match the goblin's strength. The strike spun Rai to one side, shifting him off balance just enough for Q's right-handed thrust to take him in the side, the silver steeled sword plunging into his heart.

The goblin held him there for a moment, pinned on the weapon, before ripping the sword from his body. Rai shook from the blow, falling to his knees. Q whipped the sword to one side, flinging what looked to be congealed blood from the blade, as Rai began to topple over.

But Q apparently hadn't gotten the memo about fighting undead Revenants.

"Q, finish him!" I shouted, even as the enthralled wizard finished swiping across his own mouth with the tanto blade.

My friend tensed at the warning, and was suddenly moving toward the wizard in a blur, his swords raised. But the moment had given Rai time to break the seal over his mouth, and his jaw worked quickly, unleashing a powerful blast of air at the unsuspecting goblin, sending him hurtling back toward the line of zombies.

As Q flew through the air, Rai spun about, beginning a stumbling advance on the skull. Despite the horrific injury he'd taken, the Revenant was still up-right. No blood spilled from that wound either, and I wondered what it would take to kill something clearly not alive.

Argondian stood before the advancing air mage, unarmed other than for his collection of vials. He'd tugged the throwing knife free, and held it in his left fist. His right hand held only a short steel rod of some sort, no longer than a foot in length.

"I am sorry, young Fukui," Argondian said with resignation as the boy's pace quickened, clearly sensing victory. "I am so very sorry."

The boy blurred toward the old man, even as the wizard muttered, "вільготныя ляза."

Motion in his right hand caught my eye, and I watched as a flood of red slipped from the end facing down. It sank to the ground, coiling around like wet paint.

And then it was moving, the wizard's wrist flicking it first backward, and then forward, as the weapon revealed itself to be a whip.

The tip lashed out, and the young wizard tried bringing his sword around to defend. But the whip responded to a twist of Argondian's wrist, moving unnaturally as it evaded the boy's two handed swing. The liquid whip flicked wetly toward the boy's hands, no doubt preparing to coil around them.

Only, I was wrong. The whip did not simply seize the boy's wrists.

It cut right through them.

I watched in horror as the boy fell to his knees, his face twisted into a silent scream as both hands toppled to the turf, still grasping his sword. Rai stared at the stumps of his arms, as if unable to comprehend what had happened. Both were wet with more of the congealed blood that would not spill.

"It is over, boy," the old wizard said, his voice matching his age for the first time.

Rai looked up, a mask of passive indifference replacing the pain he'd briefly felt. Pain is for the living after all, and Rai was no longer that. I saw his jaw begin to move, casting a silent spell. "Don't," Argondian urged, a pleading tone to the word.

The boy didn't stop. He began to thrust his arms forward, preparing to unleash the spell.

Q's sword took his head off before he could finish.

The goblin came to a halt beside him, having freed himself from the mass of the undead. The boy's head tumbled toward Argondian, who looked on with a profound sadness.

I looked away, unable to watch. That's when I saw Nelson beside me in the darkness, watching silently as his apprentice died a final death.

He broke his gaze, turning in my direction in the odd world of the crystal skull. "He was already dead," he said softly, sounding as if he were convincing himself as much as me. After a moment, he lowered his head, and began to recite a prayer. "Oh Buddhas and Bodhisattvas abiding in all directions, Endowed with great compassion, Endowed with foreknowledge, Endowed with divine eye…"

I shifted away, moving my hand to another stone so that I would not have to watch the tears slip down his cheeks.

When I looked up, I found myself staring at Penny, who stood in the light cast by the ward lamp. Vaccaro and Sal were both standing before the crystal skull, each hesitant to attack the girl, who appeared to be content with standing at a distance. She bore the copper wand and twisted staff of wood I'd seen her wield as my ally, now turned against us by dark magics.

Sal gave a mournful trill, trying to coax some recognition from the girl, who's face was slack and without expression.

"Wizard Satakieli," Vaccaro called out to her. "Stand down."

The girl just watched, no sign that she'd even heard the well-dressed man.

Movement caught my eye, and I shifted my gaze down. It took me a second to realize what I was seeing. At first, it simply looked like wind was blowing across the roadway, shifting dust and dirt across it. But after a second, I realized the road itself was moving, slight ridges in the surface itself marking the slow progression of something beneath the surface.

Something that had finally reached the two guardians of the lamp.

"Sal, look out!" I shouted, just as vines and roots shot out from beneath the road.

The flora mage had been tunneling beneath the warden and the salamander, positioning her craftings until they were too close for the defenders to avoid. They burst from the ground, breaking through the paved surface as if it were nothing more than sand. Rubble flew outward as the dark roots wound out and around the two.

I saw the knotted wood pierce both as if their skin and armor offered no resistance. It wrapped around them, before tightening in a flash, crushing them without effort.

I blinked, startled, as neither reacted nor cried out. Neither responded at all to the vines lashing through them. I blinked again, realizing that under no circumstances could vines writhe about in the space that they occupied, no matter how powerful the magics made them.

As I realized what was happening, the two disappeared in a blink, and reappeared half a dozen paces away.

The roots and vines shot toward them, desperate to pull down their quarry. But once again they shot through the space the two defenders seemed to occupy, finding nothing to grasp and crush.

And then those two illusions fell away, and were replaced by a dozen more.

"Wow," I whispered, as a dozen Sals all crouched down and growled in the direction of the girl. Each flickered with bright flames dancing across their bodies, just like the real Sal could produce. The dozen illusions of the well-dressed Vaccaro just stood there, hands in their pockets.

More vines appeared from beneath the ground, lashing out all around the surface of the road. None reached the skull, as a circle someone had carved into the road around it deflected their attempts to dig at the ground beneath it. Roots crept up the outside of the ward, an invisible wall given shape by the wet subterranean wood.

"Stand down, apprentice," Vaccaro said, his voice repeating a dozen times over.

In response, Penny silently raised her twisted staff, and close to two dozen poles shot up from the ground, parallel to her position. Each was slightly bowed, and a second thin shaft was connected to the top.

"Those are atlatl," I observed, somewhat stupefied. In my extensive training with Q, he'd shown me all sorts of weapons, both modern and primitive. One of the earliest forms of projectile was the atlatl, a hand-held stick that was used to throw arrows without a string. The missile was hurled with human strength, a forward throwing motion combined with the snap of the atlatl stick that sent the arrow at its target with impressive speed and accuracy.

Penny had duplicated the affect with bowed bamboo shafts, each bearing a slim pointed projectile. They all bent backwards in unison, before snapping forward with a wooden twang. Primitive arrows flew at the two dozen guardians, whistling through the air as they went.

Every single one missed.

As all of the illusions disappeared in a blink, another Vaccaro appeared directly beside the girl. I saw Penny flinch back in surprise as the warden extended his thin dark cane at the girl, touching it to her before she could react.

"Dormo," he said softly, unleashing a spell on the girl.

There was no flash, no bang. One second Penny was standing; the next she was falling, crashing to the ground with a thud.

Sal appeared a moment later, approaching from the other side of the fallen girl. He gave a soft trill, clearly concerned with her fate.

"Forgive me for what I do," Vaccaro said coldly, drawing the handle of his cane out. His dispassionate voice gave me chills. I saw the flash of the concealed steal, and then it was swooping toward Penny's neck.

"She's alive!" I shouted, hoping I wasn't too late.

Vaccaro's sword froze, perhaps an inch from the girl's skin. "Mister Hayes…" he began.

"I forgot," I said, feeling foolish for my hastily relayed story earlier. "Katya said Salvago was trying something different with Penny. He was trying to enthrall her, bond with her, without her dying first."

The warden continued to hesitate. He glanced toward the skull, the sight of his dark eyes causing me to shiver. "But the bond has been made."

"Yes," I said quickly. "But she didn't die. If we can figure out a way to undo what Salvago did, maybe we can save her." My heart was beating a thousand reps per second. "Please. We have to try."

Vaccaro stared at her, his face hard and grim. There was a darkness there I hadn't seen in the old fort; a cold and pragmatic mind that had seen hard things. I'd seen it before, in those that had served in the fire and police departments. Men and women that did hard things, setting aside their morality at times, and disbelieving in their mortality at others, in order to do what needed to be done, no matter what the cost.

The warden had no desire to kill the girl. But if she were a monster given over to darkness, he would do what needed to be done. He would kill her just as Q had killed Rai, knowing there was no other way.

Only, I had just told him that there might be another way.

I'd introduced that doubt into his mind, and now it coiled and wrapped its way through him like the vines and roots had attempted to do. They seized at the cold detachment he'd worn like an armor, and tore it from him, until there was nothing left but the kind man I'd met before.

"Very well," he said, lowering the blade. "Let us hope you're right."

" _Thank you_ ," Argondian whispered across the link. I wasn't sure if he was talking to me or Vaccaro. Maybe it was both.

"We will take her back to—" Vaccaro began, before the crack of thunder rocked us all. The connection between the stones seemed to waver for a second, the IMAX view around me rippling with static before solidifying again.

"That came from—" the wizard had begun, but my hand was already moving, shifting to the next stone over.

When the world reappeared, I was staring out from the southernmost ward lamp. I spun it around, looking for the others, and spotted Simon and the other wizard, Lane, both of whom were down.

Standing only a few paces away from the crystal skull was Somboon, his sword raised with lightning crackling along its length. The wizard looked horrible. His body was emaciated, clearly no longer a vessel for the living. The dark splotches from Penny's grass attack still covered his body, the burns horrid to look at in the bright light of the ward lamp. I could see the other wounds he'd taken, first in the fight against Rai, and then later against Simon and Anya. There was simply no way a living thing could take such damage and survive.

A chill passed through me as my free hand idly traced the bandage over my side.

As I watched, the Revenant Warden swiped his dha sword at the skull, the weapon sliding across the invisible wall protecting it. The lightning along the blade sparked, pulsing with power, and the view wavered again as the power disrupted the spells binding us together.

"We're in trouble," Simon said, his teeth gritted in pain. I looked toward where he lay, and saw him cradling his hands. Smoke rose from them, and I watched as he worked at removing the gloves he wore. They appeared to have been severely damaged.

" _What_ _'_ _s your situation?_ " Vaccaro called.

"My gloves are fried," Simon replied. "Lane can invoke some serious lightning, but Somboon just rolled with it, redirecting it at me and the ward lamp."

"Jag kommer att prova något annat," Lane said unhelpfully.

The kid started rotating around, so that whatever he unleashed wouldn't hit the crystal skull and its protective barrier. His hands began to glow with a red light, and I saw something flicker between them. It wasn't exactly like lightning; it was more fluid, but still made of energy.

"Careful," Simon warned. He'd shrugged the gloves off, and was wrapping his hands in some fabric. Once those were secured, I saw the fluid from his ectoplasm reserves flowing out, a shield forming on his left arm as a long sword formed in his right.

"Låt oss se dig stoppa detta!" Lane shouted, holding his hands up. The red light arced together again, a swirl of energy flowing back and forth between his hands almost like a solar flare, before he thrust it forward. It surged toward Somboon, and the view from the skull disappeared in a flash of light.

I moved my hand from the stone, afraid of being blinded by the light. I kept my eyes closed, and after a few seconds, I touched the stone again to see what had happened.

Lane was on one knee, clearly spent from the powerful spell. His chest was heaving, but he was in one piece. So was Simon, who was only beginning to peak around the large shield he'd formed.

Somboon, on the other hand, was decidedly not in one piece.

What was left of the wizard lay outside the protective ward around the skull, surrounded by superheated rock. The earth around him was almost like lava, glowing with a bright red light. Flames rippled along Somboon's skin, burning what flesh he had remaining.

His lower half was missing, as was one arm.

"Oh shit," I said, "You just Anakin'ed him."

The Revenant Warden screamed a silent scream, his one good hand clawing at the sky. The melted earth around him was slowly sinking, incinerating what remained. That he was moving at all, that there was even a remote resemblance of life in the man, was due solely to the dark magics that had been worked on him.

"Sweet Lord," Simon said, sounding sick. "How did he survive that?"

" _Finish him!_ " Vaccaro screamed. " _Finish him!_ "

Somboon raised his hand up to the sky, his lips moving silently, as Simon said, "He's finished, Master Vaccaro."

" ** _Finish him!_** " the elder wizard screamed, clearly running toward their ward lamp. " _Before he can cast his Death Cu—_ "

And then Somboon collapsed. The world exploded, and once again I was awash in pain.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The burst of light blinded me, and I fell back from the table, tumbling out of my wheelchair as the ward lamp's stone exploded.

Needlepoints of pain throbbed all across the hand that had been touching the stone, save for the fingertip capped in the magic thimble. I flexed my right hand, and felt everything respond like it was supposed to. I could feel tiny shards of stone beneath the skin, though.

What I couldn't do was see them.

"Are you alright?" Amy asked worriedly, a vague form in the all-encompassing white moving around in front of me. I tried blinking, and colors started returning, circles and blobs of different hues that had nothing to do with the objects and people in the room.

"I'm okay," I assured her. "Just blinded."

The blur moved away. "I'm sorry, I should have warned you to disconnect."

"What happened?" I asked, as dark shadows began to return where they belonged. The shades of light were almost three-dimensional again, and I saw the outlines of the others moving about quickly.

"A lightning strike," Kyveli said as she helped me stand and get situated in the wheelchair again. "A very large one. It came down where one of the lanterns had been placed."

"Somboon used his death curse," Nelson said as he moved about. I couldn't quite make out what he was doing. "He must have called down a full strike on the ward lamp. It's been blown away."

"Is the wall down, then?" I asked, my vision beginning to pick up details. Nelson was hunched over the map table, while Amy was speaking softly to the others via the speaking stones.

"The southern fifth," Nelson said. "Zombies are coming through in the southwest. The rest are still standing."

"Not for long," Amy muttered. When we looked toward her, I saw the hazy outline of her head shake slowly. "Martin and Anya just figured out what Peña was up to all this time."

I thought back on my time in the skulls, and realized that once the battle had begun, the noise from the other stones had become muted. Words and sound had still traveled through, but not enough to distract me or the others from their duties. Apparently Amy had remained in communication with everyone.

"What was it?" Nelson asked.

"They said he's—" the goth wizard started. Her words broke off, and I saw her turn toward the map table.

I did as well, but still couldn't make out any sense of what I was seeing. Nelson could, though, and his curses echoed off the walls. It was the first time I'd ever seen him lose his composure.

Then again, he'd seen his apprentice cut down only a few moments ago. So maybe that was understandable.

"What is it?" I asked the room.

"The wall is down," Kyveli said softly.

"The others were reporting that Peña never attacked," Amy said, her face looking even more like a skull than usual as my vision slowly returned. "They took some shots at him, but didn't want to be lured out. Seems that he was using his earth magics to undermine the supports for the crystal relays."

"What about the protective circles?" I asked. I'd seen Penny's magics flail against them.

"He didn't attack the ward lamp itself," Amy informed me. "He basically just caused a minor earthquake that knocked out the crystal repeaters."

"The northern third is still up," Nelson said, his voice calming as he worked through his emotions. "Not that it matters at this point."

"Moretti and the others are falling back," Amy reported quickly. "No response from Simon or Lane since the strike."

"The police are still in place, yes?" Kyveli asked.

"Last I heard," the goth girl replied. "But that was before a horde of zombies had a clear shot into the city."

"I will touch base with my sisters and those in charge," the woman said, quickly moving away. I rolled my wheelchair over to the map table, where I could see a haze of green moving toward the outer streets of the city.

"Where are the others?" Nelson asked. "I can't track them with all of the enemy units washing over everything."

"Martin and Anya are heading toward Simon and Lane's last known position," Amy replied, her dark eyes distant. "Vaccaro has rerouted to take Penny to safety. Moretti, Argondian, and the goblin are joining the law officers."

"What about Peña?" I asked.

"Martin said he fell back once the ward wall fell," Amy said. "It seems like they're willing to let the zombies do the heavy lifting."

"More like Salvago didn't want to lose him, too," Nelson said softly. "He's down three Revenants."

"Makes sense," I said with a nod. "He's only got Peña and Katya left."

"What about the others?" Amy asked. "The shepherds or whatever?"

"Violet and the Hound are out commission until nightfall," I reminded her. "He probably kept Katya back to guard him."

"Not just that," Amy corrected me. When I looked to her, I could finally make out details. "Argondian is reporting that sniper fire is taking out the civilian response leaders."

"Damn it," I cursed, banging my fist on the arm of the wheelchair. I managed to stand, but only made it three steps before my head spun. Nelson was there, and pushed me back toward the chair. "Easy," he said. I felt like I was in one piece, but I didn't have the energy to resist him.

"I wish Anya were here," I muttered, glancing at the table, and the green dots that began to enter into the city limits. "If I could top off my tanks, I might be able to do someone some good."

Nelson looked at me, and then my stomach. "You're really healed?"

"Yes," I insisted. "Just tired. But a feeding session always fills me with energy."

A thoughtful look crossed his face. "She had just fed on you when you kept up with me back at the cottage."

"Yeah," I said, not understanding what he was getting at.

"I wonder if a spell circle could match the effect of what she does?" he mused with a soft frown.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Like the one we used earlier…" he said, seeming to ignore me.

I looked back and forth between him and what he was studying, which appeared to be my stomach. When he finally noted my attention, he coughed. "While healing you, we used a spell to try and harness the power from your Manipura," he said. "The chakra point I told you about before."

"So?" I asked. I could hear Amy working to one side of the room.

"It was quite successful," he said. "Once the spell was triggered, your body healed itself. Your lingering weakness is not due to injury, but the blood loss, and the recovery from the infusions."

I frowned. "Can you repeat the spell?"

"Well, it seems the spell was excessive," Nelson said. "At least compared to what you would require now. But I might be able to draw a circle over the chakra point, to aide your own meditative healing."

"Alright," I said quickly, willing to try whatever it took to help. I pulled the scrub top off and started picking at the bandages around me. Nelson let me work on that while he recovered a marker.

Once the bandages were off, he used a piece of fabric to rub away the last of the paint from their last efforts. It gave me an opportunity to look at the tender scar along my left side. My fingers traced it, running across the staples they'd used to hold me together. The metal didn't look like anything you'd find in a hospital setting, though. Most likely the magnetic mage had crafted staples from something else to punch into me as I lay dying. They ran from the front of my belly all the way around to my back.

I shuttered, knowing that I should, by all rights, be dead.

A dark worry took root in that moment, as I wondered if Salvago had thought the same thing.

My body shook, and Nelson looked up at me. "You need to hold still. This is delicate work, and I'm not very good with my right hand," he said, gesturing toward the sling he wore on his left.

"You did well enough the first time," I assure him.

"Argondian handled that," Nelson said as he concentrated. "I'm left handed."

"Never trust a lefty," I mumbled, repeating an old adage my father had tried to instill into me. I frowned at the thought. A sense of deja vu came over me, as if I'd recently talked about that with someone. But I couldn't remember with who, or where.

"Alright," Nelson said, sitting back. I looked down at my stomach, which was stretched out straight in the chair. There was a circle with triangle, a series of what looked like might be petals on the outside, and some odd symbols here and there. "Just meditate like you normally would."

"No magic words?" I asked. He just shook his head, so I sat up again, and closed my eyes. I thought of the mantra Olivia had taught me, and concentrated on the point in my navel where the power flowed from during Anya's feedings. I'd never felt it in my solo meditations, but I assumed it was the same point providing the energy; I was simply incapable of drawing enough at once to sense it.

Until then.

As I got rolling with the mantra, a familiar warm feeling began to flow out and across my body. I almost lost concentration, but recovered quickly, and allowed the power of the apple-seed to do what it could for my weary body.

After about five minutes, I stopped, and opened my eyes. Nelson and Amy were busy coordinating with the others, and Kyveli had returned at some point. Her head swiveled to me as I rose, feeling much more steady on my feet.

"Did it work?" Nelson asked, shifting his gaze.

"Yeah," I said, touching my left side as I took a few tentative steps around the room. The wound was tight, as were the muscles beneath it. I tried stretching, and winced at the pinch of the staples. But the exhaustion was gone. "Not one hundred percent, but better."

"Good," the wizard said, his gaze reverting back to the map. "Tell Serg to give up that street and head south," he told Amy. "They're about to overrun his position."

I looked to Kyveli, who filled me in. "Several of the police units broke when the undead appeared in the mist. More fell back to the city limits when the sniper opened fire, killing several high ranking officials. Now they're trying to hold ground, to prevent the undead from reaching those that didn't evacuate."

"There are people still in town?" I asked, startled.

"There was not time to get everyone away," she replied. "Not that some would leave. Most are behind locked doors, but there are reports of some houses being overrun."

"Dammit," I said, leaning on the map table. I could see where the green had washed over the first third of the southern part of the city; the fog of green sparks hadn't crept into the north end of town. Blue dots were spread here and there, indicating where the others were trying to hold back the horde.

My eyes drifted westward, toward the hills leading to the mountains. There was a smattering of green dots there; a small group of zombies that hadn't joined the others in the assault on the city, but were still advancing slowly.

"That's where Salvago is," I said, pointing to it. The group hadn't been identifiable before the horde had moved into the city.

"We can't get to him," Nelson replied, frustration seeping into his voice. "There's thousands of zombies between us."

"Fight fire with fire," I said softly as I stared at the map. "Is there a high enough building with line of sight to this point?" I asked Kyveli.

"Yes, several," she replied. I gestured toward the map, and she indicated one to the south that was close to the line of advancing zombies.

"How easy is it to work all of this?" I asked, gesturing toward the map. At Nelson's bewildered look, I continued. "I mean, can Salvago control the storm, draw from it, control his Revenants, and control the zombies, all while maintaining an air shield?"

Nelson blinked at the last. "Maybe. Maybe not."

"Let's say we find out," I said, standing up. "I'm going to need a few things things."

The others just blinked at me, but moved quick enough once I'd outlined my plan.

I only hoped that I could make it to the church before it was overrun. If not, then the whole city might fall, and us with it.

* * *

The first thing they gave me was my duffel bag, which I'd last left with Rose as we started saving the towns the night before. In it was the last of my spare underclothes, which I put to good use. Next was my black leather jeans, which didn't smell too much like I'd been rolling around in corpses.

Then came my leather jacket, which chilled me to the bone.

My blood was still on it, soaking into the the inner lining. There wasn't much; the armorers over at Monoc Securities that had worked the raw Balaur skin into clothing hadn't given much consideration to chaffed nipples. What little lining there was had now been throughly soaked in my lifeblood. The left side was sliced horizontally, where the Warden's sword had easily cut through the spellworked leather.

I ran my fingers along the tear, silently wondering when I'd get around to addressing those dark thoughts I kept suppressing.

After donning the coat, I put on my pistol harnesses, slipping a Beretta Px4 under each arm. I was glad I'd removed them; otherwise they'd be lost in some building in Anavatos, along with my spear, boots, bracelets, and rings.

I was really missing my rings. I'd worn the bone-white gift from Violet ever since she'd given it to me, taking it off only on rare occasions. The silver steel rings that linked with the spear had also become part of my regular gear, and my hands felt bare and vulnerable.

Part of that might have also been that I'd lost my Balaur leather gloves in Anavatos as well.

Decked out with a few of my weapons and some borrowed shoes that didn't quite fit, I went down to street level, where I met Kyveli and Amy. They had three more of the things I'd asked for, the first being one of Amy's communication stones. I hung it around my neck while Kyveli displayed the ancient rifle she'd retrieved.

"It was in a museum adjacent to the old fort complex," she said with some chagrin. "It was the best I could manage in such a short time."

The rifle looked like it hadn't been fired since the second World War, if not before that. But at least the museum staff had done a good job oiling it and preparing it for long-term storage. All the parts that were supposed to move did so, and I sighted down the old scope, pleased to see the lenses were intact.

"Here, do what you can," I told Amy as I passed the gun to her. Kyveli passed off a small box of ammunition as well. The young wizard was already pulling a tool from her bag as Kyveli walked me over to the last thing I'd asked for. "Start with a bullet, and then see about the rifle."

"Be careful with her," Kyveli said from beside a little moped, patting the seat fondly. "She is mine."

"I'll take good care of her," I assured her as I donned my motorcycle helmet and glasses. At least those had been stored in my duffel bag, and not lost with everything else in Anavatos. "She won't get a scratch."

The native Greek woman surprised me with a bright smile and an appropriate response. "I have your word now. Not a scratch!"

I laughed, the light-hearted moment interrupted by the sharp crack of thunder. "Alright, if we succeed, it'll hopefully make things easier for you and your sisters."

I climbed onto the bike, and Amy shuffled forward, awkwardly slinging the gun around her front so that she could work on it. "Hold on," she said as she pulled the string from her hood. I glanced back at her, watching as she muttered something beneath her breath. When she was done, she tied the string to a belt loop on her skirt, and then the other end went on one of my own.

"What's that going to do?" I asked doubtfully.

The girl muttered something else, and a tingle rippled across my skin. "We're now bound. I won't have to hold onto you, so I can work on this," she said, gesturing to the gun and bullets.

"Okay," I said doubtfully. I turned forward again and started up the little motor.

"May the gods be with you," the old woman said as I got ready to pull out. "My sisters and I will continue our efforts."

I nodded my thanks, and then we were off.

I drove us across the sidewalks, the roads themselves jammed with the abandoned vehicles of those who had fled eastward. The scant number of buildings inside the old fort wall were packed full of refugees, as were the buildings closer to the docks. From what Kyveli said, every boat along the coast had been taken out, filled to capacity with women and children. A few brave souls had started swimming, thinking that the threat of drowning was better than the sure death at the hands of the undead.

It was clear that the populace hadn't bought the stories of airborne fungal growth. Everyone had seen a zombie movie or two in their time; they knew what was coming from within the creeping emerald mist.

There were few people out on the street. A scattering of fleeing civilians passed us a couple times, heading further east toward the coast. I wasn't sure what they were hoping to find, but maybe they'd be lucky.

Based on the directions Kyveli had given us, I estimated we were about halfway to our destination when we came across the first mass of zombies.

"Shit!" I shouted, cutting the wheel to the left as the ambling bodies appeared at the corner we had been passing. Bony fingers reached for us, and I gunned the engine of the little moped, scraping against an abandoned vehicle as we swerved away.

The spell the goth wizard had used to tie us together worked; as my body leaned to the left, so did hers. I noticed our limbs weren't linked together, though. Her arms flailed for a second at the unexpected maneuver, even as I realized it seemed to take me twice as much effort to lean over than it should have. It was as if I were doing all the work for the two of us.

"Hold steady!" Amy shouted at me with a scowl, her dark makeup job making it look all the more sinister. She didn't spare a second glance at the zombie that tugged at her hood before we tore free, shooting off down a side street and away from the mob.

The wizard resumed her work, carving something into a bullet. It took us a few minutes to head south and west, which was the worst possible direction to go with the undead pouring into the city. We had to detour twice more, adding precious seconds to our journey, just to avoid crowds of fleshless skeletons that stumbled across our path.

As I navigated toward the bell tower that was my destination, I rounded one last turn, and came face to face with a horde of the undead.

"Hold on!" I shouted out of habit, even though the wizard was riding without doing just that. The moped jumped the curb as I turned toward the church, and then rode up the short lawn to the heavy double doors at the corner.

Inspired by our sudden appearance, the slow gate of the horde turned into a frenzied run. They were only a dozen yards away when we pulled up to the closed doors.

As we went, I let loose on the small horn on the bike, its mighty beep doing nothing to intimidate the undead. But it did let the people in the church know that we were there, and the doors opened before us just before the front tire hit the wood.

The moped roared between them, and I glanced back to see others slam the doors shut again just as the zombies reached the threshold. The thick wood slabs shook in their frame as dozens of undead hands crashed against them. Those citizens that had fled to the church held the doors shut as they were hastily locked.

I felt a tug again as Amy undid the string binding us, even as a man with a priest's collar cut through the small crowd within the church. "They called and said you would need to get to the tower?"

"Yes," I said as I killed the engine and climbed off the moped. I gave it a grateful tap before following the priest. Amy trailed after us, her head still down as she concentrated. Finished with the bullet, the round now resided between her teeth as she went to work on the rifle itself. "We need a clear view to the west."

"The southern tower provides the best view," the man said, and led us to a stairwell that wound its way several stories up. I thanked him, and quickly started ascending.

When we reached the top, I pushed open the access door, and then helped Amy out onto the small platform beneath the bell. The hatch slammed shut as we looked out over the city, and the carnage that had been unleashed upon its innocent masses.

The town was ablaze further south. I couldn't be sure if that was a result of the zombies, or from the failure of the wards they'd used to temper the forest fires. In the end, it didn't matter. Those that had remained home were left with the horrible choice of staying and burning, or fleeing into the arms of the undead.

I turned my attention to the west, ignoring the sounds I could hear all around me. The zombies were eerily silent as they worked their way through the city, but the screams of those they came across were not. I forced myself to concentrate on the task at hand, and scanned the horizon for any sign of Salvago.

"It's done," Amy finally said, holding up the bullet. I took it, and noted the etchings on the barrel and housing. "Should I start on another round, just in case?"

"No," I said, taking the proffered one. "We'll likely only have one good shot. See what you can do to improve the rifle itself," added, as I slid the ancient lens off of the rifle and handed her the gun. Amy seemed to consider it for a moment, the dark makeup around her distant eyes giving me chills as the screams around us grew louder.

From the map we'd seen, Salvago was about a mile west of our position. I trained the scope on the distant horizon, and then used the telescoping spell on my glasses. The two combined were disorienting, but I eventually found a combination that allowed me to see far enough.

On a far hill, just over a mile outside the town, stood a ring of zombies. In their midst was the pulsing light from the Salvago's spear, shining in the night to reveal his location. He was there beside it, his eyes glazed as he held his hands aloft. Green tendrils drifted out, joining the emerald haze that extended into the city.

There was no sign of Katya. But with the reports of sniper fire, I knew she was there somewhere.

I closed my eyes before taking the scope away from my eyes and releasing the spell. I blinked as I looked to Amy, who was busy working on the rifle.

It didn't take her long, but it seemed like an eternity. But every second is too much when you can see people suffering. A family on the street below had been heading for the church, but turned back when the the horde spotted them. I pulled one of my Berettas and dropped a couple of the zombies that gave chase, but more rounded the corner after them. I could only hope I'd bought them time.

After a short epoch, Amy handed me the rifle back.

"Thanks," I said as I re-attached the scope back to the gun, and then chambered the round the wizard had worked on. The shot was going to be nearly impossible. Aside from the distance, and the age of the gun, and its condition, there was also the ring of zombies shuffling around the wizard to contend with. "This will be like Katya's, right?" I asked, hoping the young wizard had managed to put the extra touches needed to make the impossible shot just this side of unlikely.

"Probably," the goth girl said with a shrug that didn't inspire me to confidence. "I've never tried to work spells on a gun or bullet before."

Great. I'd hoped the little wizard, who Vaccaro had said was quite good at crafting objects, would be able to duplicate the spells Katya used on her own rounds. According to Argondian, she apparently had an assortment she used. The ones I'd asked Amy to duplicate were for accuracy, increased range, and maybe a little luck.

With the target a little over a mile away, and with us using an ancient weapon, I was pretty sure we'd need all three.

"Aren't you going to… you know? Shoot?" Amy asked after a minute. Her calm demeanor was quickly eroding as she finally took note of the chaos below. The church doors were under full assault by the undead, and we could hear the sound of glass breaking as they tried to come in through the windows. I wondered what protection, if any, holy ground would offer those trapped inside.

"Not unless I have to," I told her. At her startled glanced, I continued. "I'm a good shot, don't get me wrong. But I'm no Olympics marksman."

"But if you're not going to shoot, who—" she began, before yelping in surprise as a killing machine with decades of experience with every weapon imaginable leapt over the railing of the bell tower to land silently beside us.

"Is that the best you could do?" Q rasped as he took the rifle from me. The goblin was careful to hold it by the wooden stock as he eyed it critically.

"Best on short notice," I informed him. I pointed in the direction I'd seen Salvago and handed him my glasses. He had crafted them himself, and knew the telescoping spell as well as I did. Even if he did resent the fact that I'd use one of Tolkien's elven languages for the command words. "Target's over there."

"Gloves?" he asked, glaring at the metal barrel and trigger on the gun. When I shook my head, he handed it back and shrugged off his leather jacket.

"Sorry, I lost mine," I said, as I watched him prepare to tear apart his _Zombieland_ t-shirt. But a ripping sound drew him short, and we both looked back to Amy. The girl had picked up on the issue, and had already torn a length of her shirt from around her belly, and then ripped it in half again. Q took the strips of cloth from the girl, winding them around his palms and fingers like mittens, save for the trigger finger that he wrapped individually. It was crude, and there were gaps where the iron might burn him at a touch, but it was the best we could do.

The wide-eyed girl watched him as he worked. He wasn't bothering with his glamour, which meant that she was getting an eyeful of the goblin's all-natural good looks up close. I got the distinct impression that he was the first such creature she'd ever seen. Curiosity and apprehension warred across her face as she obliquely studied him.

Once his hands were appropriately covered, Q took the gun back and dropped into position at the railing. He cited along the scope, and then hissed out in frustration as he burned his fingertips when trying to adjust it. "Sight it for me," he growled.

Amy stepped forward to do just that, and with his direction, got the scope adjusted appropriately. I stood by, watching, helpless once again. I'd done what I could, but now it was in Q's clawed hands.

The goblin steadied himself, taking a breath as he adjusted the glasses. I held my own, and Amy trembled beside me, waiting for the hammer to fall. An eternity passed, all while I listened to the screams of thousands of citizens fleeing from the horde.

With a slight breath, Q pulled the trigger.

The hammer fell.

The gun exploded.

Q hissed out a curse in Goblinese as metal shards shot back from the barrel. The goblin cast the gun aside, letting it clatter to floor of the bell tower as slivers of iron embedded themselves in his upper body.

"Sorry! I'm sorry!" Amy shouted, her words hushed as the red-eyed goblin glared at her.

I snatched the glasses from his face and grabbed for the discarded rifle, noting that the barrel had flowered open at the end. The rest was intact, as was the scope. I quickly removed the latter and trained it and the telescoping spell on Salvago's location. I needed to confirm what I already knew.

As soon as Q had fired, the zombies below had grown still. A long beat passed as Salvago's control over them failed, leaving thousands upon thousands of undead beasts without a master to order them about.

Some ambled helplessly. Some resumed their frantic efforts after only a few moments, perhaps some fragment of their purpose remaining to drive them after the citizens of Chios. Some, too few to be considered a victory, collapsed where they stood.

There was nothing I could do about that now.

As I trained the glass on the hillside, I saw the ring of zombies that had surrounded the air mage. The man himself was out of sight, even though his spear was still upright. But the pulse of light and sound that rolled out from its tip was gone.

"Come on," I whispered, staring at the guard zombies that had begun to mill about listlessly, as if they'd forgotten what they'd been doing. "Come on."

"I got him," Q growled in obvious pain. "He's dead."

"As dead as the mortally wounded Revenants?" I responded. "Do you really think a bullet is going to end this?"

I cast a glance at him, and saw that he was allowing the wizard girl to remove the slivers of metal from his skin. Each piece burned at his flesh where they'd struck him, and his needle-sharp teeth were clenched in agony. Amy was quickly working her way through them, a small rod from her bag drawing them out one-by-one as she muttered a spell under her breath.

Q's face scrunched up in the ugliest look of confusion I've ever seen. "If we weren't trying to kill him, then…"

Thunder rumbled across the sky as he spoke, and the three of us looked up into the sky as lightning flashed through the clouds. The air itself seemed to ripple, as if some great pressure had suddenly been released.

Then the first drop landed on the roof of the bell tower. It was followed quickly by another, as the skies opened up into a torrential downpour that fell across the city, the pent up rains no longer held back by Salvago's will. The local coven of witches completed their rituals to break through the dark wizard's spells, and let nature run its course.

And as the rain fell, the running water broke through the emerald mists encompassing the horde of zombies, disintegrating that which gave them life.

I looked over the edge, and watched as the supernatural flesh melted away on those below. The dead, fresh or otherwise, crumpled in place as the rains burned through the magics like acid. Within moments, there was nothing left of the army sieging the city.

With one shot, a little luck, and a rain spell from some local hedge witches, the siege of Chios ended.

"YES!" I shouted, brandishing the scope as I pumped my arm in victory. "Take that, you undead piece of sh—"

My celebration was cut short when Katya's explosive round struck the bell tower, unleashing a wall of light and sound and fury that shattered the bell and bricks around us. And then the three of us were falling, as the tower collapsed down upon us.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

I suppose I should have realized Katya would pick up on what had happened, and would search the dark skyline for our location. Being the experienced sniper that she was, our position in the bell tower was probably obvious. She'd been quick to mete out her revenge for striking down Salvago, firing upon our position while we had remained in place, overly confident in our victory.

Perhaps the charms Amy had given us helped save us from the bullet itself. I knew Katya was a hell of a shot, the scar on my left shoulder testifying to the fact. But her shot had skewed high, striking the bell overhead.

The power unleashed gave me a new appreciation for Argondian's wards, and how powerful they'd been even in his weakened state at the cottage, to dampen the destructive power of Katya's shots.

The shockwave of the blast thudded into me, propelling me over the low edge of the tower railing. An arrant grasp for the railing, even as my eyes and ears throbbed in pain at the explosion, was the only thing to prevent me from falling several stories to my death on the street below. The discarded scope shattered on the pavement beneath me. I did my best to not join it as I dangled precariously, the downpour seeming to press down on me as if to hasten my journey down.

Gritting my teeth, I reached for the railing with my free hand. The grip was slick with rain water, but I managed to grab hold with both hands. It took everything I had to pull myself up, which is somewhat embarrassing for a guy who works out regularly. The spell had blossomed new aches and pains all across my body, but I managed to climb over the railing, my feet slipping on the rubble lying across the platform.

The first thing I noticed was that Amy was in good shape. The remnants of some sort of magical shield were just fading from across her limbs. It looked like the rain was dissipating it, but it had done its job, protecting Amy from the stone and steel shrapnel that had erupted across that side of the tower.

Q was not so fortunate.

The girl was just shoving a large section of the steel bell off of the prone form of my friend. The bullet had struck it directly, shattering the ancient iron chime. Pieces lay strewn across the platform along with stone bricks that had fallen from the canopy overhead. Some were the size of dinner plates, while many more were nothing more than shards and slivers of steel.

The one that had fallen across Q was one of the largest. As the goth wizard shoved it off, the goblin was revealed, the skin of his hands and face smoking from the contact with the cursed metal. The fabrics they'd wrapped around his palms had protected him somewhat, but I could see where sharp protrusions had pierced his _Zombieland_ shirt. Had he left his Balaur leather jacket on, he would have been fine.

As it was, he had several dozen pieces of iron jutting from his fae-like skin. Each was burning him alive, dissolving his flesh as if they were made from acid.

I started to crouch over him, but Amy shoved me aside, scrambling for the largest segment of the bell. "I can help," she gasped, water rushing over her as she held the same little rod she'd used before. She tried muttering something, but the deluge was enough to completely disrupt whatever magical spell she was trying cast.

'We've got to get out of this," she said, gesturing around. I nodded, and moved toward Q, the rubble shifting beneath my feet. As I went, I spotted the sleeve of Q's discarded jacket. I tugged it free from the rubble and held it over the girl, blocking some of the rain that had been cutting her off from her magic.

Atop a pile of stone and steel growing slick with rainwater and goblin blood, the goth wizard worked her magics, the short rod pulling each sliver from my friend's skin. As each slid free, more blood spilt, but the blisters and burns finally began to abate.

When the last was gone, the goblin seemed to shudder, before falling still in relief.

"We've got to get him medical treatment," Amy said, pointing out the obvious.

I draped his coat over him and began working at uncovering the hatch. I hoped no-one was venturing outside the church, as I sent quite a few stones over the edge in my haste to clear the passage. Amy joined me, and together we cleared it enough to pop open the door, and then I grabbed Q and headed down into the church.

When we reached the ground floor, a cheer went up. Clearly the rumor had been spread that we had come to the church to end the siege, and the grateful citizens of Chios looked to us as heroes. But almost all of them gasped and drew back at the site of the smoking and hissing goblin.

"What is… is he…" the priest stuttered, staring at the form of Qilluhrang.

"He's the savior of Chios," I gasped out, holding him in my arms as the priest looked at me in disbelief. "Now, do you think you could get us a ride?"

* * *

It took us precious time to get back to the old fort. One of the Chians had arrived in a small truck filled with friends and neighbors, and was more than willing to lend it to us. Amy and I got the unconscious Q loaded before heading back.

When we arrived, I deposited Q into the arms of the local witches that had worked at releasing the rains from overhead. They'd been overjoyed at our arrival, but just like the church-goers, their mood tempered when they saw the ghastly form of Q. After I explained his role in saving their city, they swallowed whatever prejudices they had and took him to the same bed I'd occupied just a short time ago, promising to do what they could for him.

I wanted to stay and help, but there wasn't anything I could do. And as bad as he was, he was at least breathing. My worry had begun to shift toward the others, including Anya and Sal, who I hadn't heard from since the lightning strike.

Amy and I had quickly realized that the exploding round had disrupted something in our communication stones. Either that, or the downpour was interfering with the magics required to use them. We hadn't been able to raise anyone on our way back, so we weren't sure what we were walking into when we returned to the command room.

We found Nelson alone, working the communication stones on the table. He looked up as we entered, and shot Amy a weak smile. "Do you think you could help?" he asked, gesturing to the stones.

"Sure," the goth wizard replied tiredly. She headed for the table, where Nelson whispered to her in hushed tones, letting her know what was going on. I settled into the wheelchair I'd occupied earlier, and started working on my meditation.

As soon as I began, I could feel the power flowing through me. The magic circle Nelson had drawn on me was still intact, protected from shrapnel and rain by my mostly intact coat. I lost myself in the feeling of the power, letting it work through the bumps and bruises and cuts I'd accumulated.

"Seems like your plan worked."

I awoke without realizing I'd fallen asleep. I blinked up at Nelson, who had finally finished getting things sorted with Amy. The girl was still working the table, her quick hands more familiar with the stones than the bald wizard's.

"Well enough," I said with a grim nod. I quickly informed him of Q's condition, and what had transpired on our end of things. When I was finished, he filled me in on the others.

"Kyveli and her sisters broke through Salvago's spells once you took him out," the bald wizard confirmed. "The rest have checked in, and are either making their way back here, or are helping the Chians however they can."

"Anya and Sal?" I asked.

"They're okay," he replied, although his words were heavy. "Anya and Martin were ambushed by Peña on their way to the others. Anya got away, but Martin…" The bald wizard shook his head.

"Dead?" I asked softly, dreading the answer.

"Worse," Nelson said with a heavy sigh. "Taken, by Peña."

"Shit," I cursed, wanting to punch something.

"According to Anya, he was still alive," Nelson said. "We're hoping Salvago will keep him that way, like he did with Penny."

"At least we got her back," I said, only to see the monk wizard shaking his head.

"Penny woke while Vaccaro was helping the locals," he said. "She slipped away before he could do anything."

I sat back in the wheelchair and rubbed at my head. "What about the others?"

"Katya sniped Vaccaro at some point, but he's going to be alright," he reassured me quickly. "Apparently the charm stones did their job, as those wearing them weren't hit. But she used one of those Arcane rounds, and Vaccaro and some of the locals got tossed about." I could sympathize with that experience. "Argondian and Moretti aren't any worse than they were. The old man's with Simon, who's pretty beat up. Those lightning strikes didn't do him any favors, but his ecto-shield and coat apparently kept him alive."

"How about the other one?" I asked. "The guy with him?"

"Stenguard," Nelson said with a grim shake of his head. "No trace of him. Very little remains of Somboon. Both were too close to the lightning strike when it took out the ward lamp. Argondian said there was nothing left but a crater. But maybe Lane got away in time."

"Any chance Peña grabbed him, too?" I asked, not wanting to know if the answer was yes.

"We don't think so," Nelson said. "We're hoping he slipped into the Never-never or something. But there's no word yet."

I hung my head in my hands as I realized the implications of what he'd said.

I'd hoped that with Rai and Somboon down for the count, and Penny in our grasp, we'd have left Salvago with only Katya, Violet, and the Hound. With the storm wiping out his zombies, and Q's shot hopefully taking its toll on the man himself, I'd thought we might be in a position to end things quickly.

Instead, we'd lost Q and Simon to injuries. Nelson's arm was still in a sling, Vaccaro was shot, and Argondian and Moretti had both taken a beating even before the chaos had broken out. I know I was feeling exhausted even after my brief meditation, and I couldn't imagine Anya and Sal were much better off. Stenguard was dead or gone, and Martin had been taken to help refill Salvago's ranks. And on top of that, Penny had gotten away.

Salvago wasn't much worse off than he'd been before the siege. And there wasn't a single wizard healthy enough to face him.

"Any sign of Salvago?" I finally asked, gesturing toward the map.

"No," Nelson said with a shake of his head. "We were only tracking him by the zombies with him. Once they fell, we lost him. My bet is Katya or Peña took him back to Anavatos."

Anavatos. The mountain town that was nearly impregnable. Where the Lich necromancer might have more zombies held in reserve, and who knew how many of the enthralled Chians still with him. Along with his remaining Revenants.

"Fuck," I muttered, shaking my head. "Even though we stopped him, we still lost."

"It's worse than that," Nelson said, drawing my eyes. He glanced around nervously, as if Amy would overhear him. "I probably shouldn't tell you, but things took a turn for the worse in Edinburgh."

"What?" I asked, surprised. "I thought you said they'd found that Morgan guy? That we could count on some help once that was over and done with?"

"They found him," Nelson confirmed. "But another traitor was revealed during the trial. A bunch of people ended up dead, and the Council is scrambling to repair the damage. It seems the word is out on this influence thing Salvago found. Most if not all of the wardens were infected, along with the Senior Council itself. Everyone's being recalled until they can figure out the extent of the corruption."

The bald wizard shook his head tiredly. "We're supposed to head back as soon as we're healthy enough. The entire Council is up in arms. Rumors are spreading that there are more traitors, and there's apparently been talk of secession, and…" He sighed, clearly overwhelmed by the scope of what had happened in such a short time.

It sounded bad. Really bad. As loath as I was to trust my local Wizard for Hire, I knew that the White Council was more or less on the side of good. If their organization was on the brink of collapse… I wasn't sure what it meant for the world.

But I knew what it meant for us there on Chios.

No-one was going to be coming to save the day anytime soon.

"I don't suppose you've got the magical equivalent of a nuke we could just drop on that city?" I asked, only partially joking.

Nelson shook his head. "Even if we did, Argondian wouldn't let us. He wants to get Penny back. And now they're hopeful for the others as well."

"What others?" I asked. "Martin?"

"And Peña," Nelson said. A pained look crossed his face. "Vaccaro thinks Somboon used a death curse to call down that lightning on the ward lamp. But you can't call down a death curse if you're already dead…" The bald wizard looked away, his face paling.

And I realized why. If the others were suddenly doubting the condition of the Revenants, then it called into question whether Rai could have been saved or not.

Which meant Nelson had to live with the guilt of possibly having failed his apprentice not once but twice.

"Nelson…" I said softly. "I don't know much about the afterlife. I'm not about to define who does and doesn't have a soul, and what it means for them." I looked at him, holding his gaze. "Whatever there was of Somboon, and Peña, and… and Rai…" I shook my head. "Whatever made them what they were, _who_ they were… it's gone."

"But the death curse—" he began, his voice thickening as tears built up in his eyes.

"He was gone," I repeated. "Maybe Penny and Martin are different. Maybe not. Maybe Violet's beyond my reach, too," I admitted, my own voice thickening at the thought. "But I saw Rai die in that fight with Somboon in the graveyard, _before_ the Hound took him. What we faced out there… that was nothing but Salvago's puppet."

Nelson nodded sharply, letting my words convince him of what he had to believe. He sniffed and wiped at his face with his right sleeve, his left still immobile in its sling. "I better check on the others. See if they need anything."

I nodded, and let him escape to the communication table. After a minute, I left him and Amy alone, wandering outside to lose myself in the downpour as I worried about Violet, and wondered how I could hope to reach her if the wizards left.

Or if there was anything left of her to save.

* * *

Anya found me an hour later, sitting on a stool beside Q's bed. The local coven had finished treating Q, as well as having removed some persistent slivers that had escaped Amy's notice. The goblin was mercifully asleep, covered in poultices the witches assured me would help him, although they weren't quite sure how much due to his differing physiology.

"Is he going to be alright?" Anya asked as she stood in the doorway. When I glanced over, she walked across the small room to rest a hand gently on my shoulder.

"I'm sure," I replied with a nod. "They said he was in and out while they worked on him, cursing them for cutting off his _Zombieland_ shirt." I knew I'd need to buy him a replacement. Nobody messes with the odd goblin's Bill Murray paraphernalia.

But despite my assurances to Anya, I wasn't so sure. The bell had done some serious damage to him, and it was taking a long time for him to recover. I'd seem him make incidental contact with metal now and again, but never like that. As strong and fast as he was, Q didn't have much magical power. Goblin magic was geared more toward maiming and killing than it was healing and recovery. And I didn't have a wand to wave over him, to make his injuries disappear.

Thankfully Anya was in one piece. She was tired, and on edge of full fledged exhaustion after battling both Peña and a horde of zombies at sword-point to get back, but she was okay. As she told me about her journey, I could tell there was some guilt lingering about letting the earth mage escape with Martin. But there was nothing she could have done. Facing a wizard alone was beyond any of us.

"Where have you been? Have you eaten?" I asked her, noting the hungry look to her eyes. She hid it well, but I knew her demon would be looking to feed after expending energy in the fight.

"With Simon," she said with a wry smile.

"You guys settle up?"

"Hardly," she said with a small shrug. "He was in a lot of pain. That lightning strike messed him up, and the others couldn't get him settled. I did what I could."

As a Raith of the White Court, Anya fed on the lust of those she coupled with, to their demise if she went too far. But doing so wasn't without its appeal to the livestock. There were plenty of humans that would willingly throw themselves at the vampires on a regular basis, if only to feel the bliss and pleasure that the succubi could impart upon their victims.

"You gave him the whammy?" I surmised.

Anya nodded wearily. "Moretti wouldn't hear of it, but I promised not to feed from him. I just helped sedate him in the best way possible, so that they could begin treating his injuries."

I could imagine what the warden from New York would think of letting a 'monster' at one of his brethren. But it was clear that Anya herself was worn out from the fight, and hadn't partook of the wizard's power. Otherwise she would have been in better shape.

"Do you want to feed?" I asked her.

"Maybe later. I'm going to go get some old fashioned rest," Anya said as Argondian arrived at the door. "Let me know if you need anything."

I nodded, and watched the White Court vampire depart. For once there was no awkward exchange between her and the old wizard; it seemed the night and day's trials and tribulations had worn away the man's lecherous behavior.

Or so I thought, until Anya gave a yelp in the hallway from a telekinetic pinch to her derriere.

"Oh, to be young again," Argondian said as he settled onto the stool across the bed. He had a slightly wistful look as he spoke, as if recalling the pleasures of youth.

"Something tells me the female population would rue the day," I told him, eliciting a leer from him.

"Don't count me out just yet, Mister Hayes," the old wizard replied with a wink. "There are many powers in the world, and plenty that would grant me a boon such as restored youth in return for some wizardly help."

"Now you've got _me_ worried," I said with a feigned roll of my eyes.

Argondian's gaze drifted to Q. "I am not quite as suited at healing magic as Penny, but I do have some ability," he said. "I've helped young Simon as much as I could. I came to see if there was anything I could do for your charge," he said, nodding toward Q.

"My charge?" I said, blinking.

"Your ward. Your hired help," the old man said. "Whatever you want to call it."

"We're friends."

Argondian gave me a disappointed look. "Surely you don't think goblins just run about, doing good deeds out of friendship?" he asked with mild disbelief.

"I know he's different," I told the man. "I've never met another goblin, but I know the rest aren't like him."

"Indeed," Argondian said with a solemn nod. "Retention of oneself, holding on to even a sliver of free will, is costly to the likes of him." The wizard's eyes shifted to me. "To those that choose that path."

"That path?" I repeated absently, the words echoing in my head for some reason. I couldn't think of why.

"It seems you know less than I thought," the man said, shifting on his stool to try and get comfortable. Something that was impossible to do, based on my own experience.

"You're talking about Changelings," I surmised softly. At that, the wizard's eyes returned to mine. "You're talking about the offspring of Fae and humans, that have to choose which parentage to take after." Give me some credit; I'd been in the magical community for a decade. I'd learned _some_ stuff.

"Not just the Fae," the wizard said with a tilt of his head. "There are all sorts of scions and progeny out there. Those that chose one way or the other, or have not yet chosen."

"You're saying Q chose to be a goblin," I said as I considered his words. "But he's also trying to retain something else? Something human?"

The wizard stared at me long and hard. "Something like that."

I sighed, and looked over at my friend. "I suppose I can't blame him. I couldn't imagine having my destiny, my very nature, decided for me on just a single choice."

"I imagine not."

I studied the goblin, and reconsidered just why he did what he did. Why he was so willing to help me at a moment's notice. About our agreement to help each other, with me aiding him in his crafting business and letting him live under my home, in return for helping me with magic and giving me a hand when I needed it.

Maybe it wasn't friendship that made him come when I called. A goblin didn't have friends. A goblin didn't do good things because they were good. A goblin hunted and killed and maimed for fun and pleasure. A goblin was a force of nature, a hunter spirit that answered to its cravings for blood and honor, and nothing more.

They most assuredly didn't make magical tea sets, or spellworked rocking horses, or peepholes for mortals to see what came a-knocking.

They didn't save a city of humans without a second thought for their own welfare.

"Will you help my friend?" I asked Argondian.

The wizard took a long breath, inhaling through his nose in a thoughtful — if not frustrated — fashion, before releasing it in a resigned sigh. "Of course."

And so I settled in as the water mage did what he could for the savior of Chios, while I wondered at what the wizard had really been getting at.

And the odd feeling that there was something I was forgetting.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

It was only a few hours later that the sun, having only just broken through the heavy clouds, set upon the far side of the mountain. Anya and I had gotten a feeding in, although it had been short and sweet. The circle Nelson had drawn on me not only let me feel the power as it worked its way through me, but it allowed it to work faster and more efficiently. And it had the same effect on Anya's feeding, quickly leaving her full and numb from the intense bond we shared.

After she settled in for another nap, I'd done the same. The most sleep I'd gotten was a few hours of unconsciousness in Anavatos. The only thing that kept me out of bed for any length of time was a profound hunger that only abated after several sandwiches were hastily consumed.

With the sun finally setting, and few more hours of sleep under my belt, I set about getting things ready. Wizards or no, I was still under contract with Rose to see after the Hound. Not to mention that I wasn't about to leave Violet behind.

As soon as the shadows of the rocky cliffs began to stretch across the land, Rose arrived in the blink of an eye.

"You did well this day," she said as I sat duct taping my jacket. It seemed a little blasphemous to hold the fine leather together with the silver tape, but I didn't have any Norse armorers on hand to repair it, so I made do. My mood was worsened by the fact that my enchanted glasses had been damaged when the bell exploded. Until Q was healthy enough to work on them, I'd be without yet another tool.

"Not well enough," I replied softly. "Not by far."

As the hours had passed, we'd learned more about the fate of Chios Town.

The rains had done more than simply stop the zombie horde. They'd also snuffed out many of the fires in Chios and the other parts of the island that still hadn't recovered from the previous night's attacks. Many areas, such as the woods I'd traveled through a lifetime ago on the way to the graveyard, were now nothing more than scorched earth and ashen forests.

The downpour had helped, but it wouldn't bring back the dead. There had been enough of that already, in my opinion, but it was hard not to wonder at the futility of it all as word spread of the hundreds of victims. Thousands, if you included the other towns. Burned or mobbed or missing, there were many that had not lived to see the end of the siege.

"And what was it all for?" I asked as I threw down the roll of tape.

"What do you mean?" the Lampad that wasn't my Lampad asked, her head cocked curiously.

"Why did he attack the town?" I rasped out, barely holding on to the despair that clawed at me. The loss of so many, piled on top of the harm I'd seen done to my allies, combined with my fear and worry for Violet, was chewing at my gut from the inside out. "I thought he was trying to save the people of Chios. That his grand plan was to purify them, to _protect_ them from this corruption he feared. Not murder them in their homes."

The carmine-haired Lampad shifted in the small room I'd claimed for myself. The others were spread out across the old fort complex, either resting or coordinating with the mortal responders. I watched Rose as she frowned, considering her words.

"Some of the Keres watched him from afar, after your escape," Rose finally said. "It seems the dark mágos believed you to be dead, but realized that the Keres would report his location. He likely sought an army the other mágos would not wish to face."

I bitter laugh escaped my lips at that. "Turns out they won't be coming at all. Not soon enough, that is. Not to help Violet."

Rose nodded, before saying. "The Keres believe that my sister is not wholly his."

I turned to stare at her, dumbfounded by her words. "Really?" I asked, ashamed at how quickly hope leapt back into my heart.

"After your… escape, Violet ceased her duties," she said, not meeting my gaze. Instead she stared out the window of the room, toward the silhouette of the mountain against the skyline. "The Keres say she raged upon learning of your death. And Salvago felt the loss as well."

"What? My death?" I asked, confused. "I was close, but I refuse to believe I died. Violet would know if I were dead. I didn't die." I had to tell myself that. The others must have been mistaken.

Otherwise, how was I any different than the dark wizard himself?

"Peña believed you to be dead, which meant Salvago did as well," she explained. "As did Violet. They are all bound now." Rose gave a slight inclination of her head. "Your mágos are correct," she said. "Salvago has imparted a piece of himself into my sister and the Hound. It is how he controls them."

Part of me wanted to know how she knew what we talked about. But I doubted I'd get a straight answer. "Right. Great," I said, dismissing the confirmation. "How can Violet think I'm dead? She's always been able to sense me before."

"You are bonded through her torch, and the ring born of it," Rose reminded me. "Without the ring, she has no way of knowing you let live. And so she believed what Peña saw, and raged against Salvago for allowing it."

"So she _is_ still there," I said, growing more confident. "I can save her."

Rose frowned. "She was. But what toll your death will have on her," she said, clearly confused by the idea of a Lampad having emotions for a mortal. "We do not know what to expect now."

I stood and stared out the window to the west, clinging to my hope. "I can save her."

Rose inclined her head. "Perhaps. Regardless, the mágos must be stopped. He has grown too powerful, and will only gather more living and dead to his side, given more time."

I nodded, and reached for my jacket. "Is he in Anavatos still?"

The Lampad simply inclined her head. It seemed her thorny and abrasive attitude had faded in the short time we'd know each other. Either I'd earned her respect, or she was being polite to the man she'd asked to go to his death. "Can you take me?"

"I can," she confirmed. "Not to the mountaintop. But I will take you as far as I can, and we will see to the rest." She looked about the small, empty room. "Do you go alone?"

I started grabbing the few things I had remaining of my arsenal, knowing they wouldn't be enough. "Anya and Sal will go," I said with confidence. They'd implied as much just a short time earlier.

"And the other mági?" Rose asked, a carmine eyebrow lifting in curiosity.

My eyes lifted off the hastily patched jacket. "Let's go find out."

* * *

When we returned to the command room, we found fewer wizards than I'd prefer, but more than I'd hoped.

"Ah, Mister Hayes, are you off somewhere?" Reon Argondian asked, looking over my gear with a knowing glint in his eyes.

"You could say that," I replied.

"Well, I shall do you the great honor of accompanying you," he said, adding a wag of his bushy eyebrows. "Just in case you need rescuing from a rogue bachelorette party or something."

I eyed his outfit critically. "What are you going to do, scare them off with your fashion sense?"

Somewhere, somehow, the oddly dressed wizard had replaced his soaked and sodden clothing with another outfit that was almost as eclectic as the first. A tie-dye button up shirt accompanied what could only be described as a lime-green checkered zoot suit. His wild hair was still frantically trying to escape from beneath his floppy artist's hat, but his long gray beard was tied into a warrior's braid made from bright neon hair-bands.

Along with the suit, the wizard carried a bandoleer of paint canisters across his chest. It seemed he'd been busy in the last few hours, preparing more of his odd offensive and defensive spells.

"Don't be silly, young man," the lecherous wizard said with a pompous tone. "Should that happen, I fully intend to seduce them." He shot a wink at Rose, but she ignored it completely.

From beside him, the metal-armed Sergio Moretti just rolled his eyes. "He seems to have forgotten that Katya will be out there somewhere," the glowering wizard said.

"Oh, no, I don't intend to seduce her," Argondian said, rolling his eyes in return. "Alas, she lacks a certain something I prefer in my lovers."

"What's that?" the bald wizard Nelson asked as he walked up from behind. I noticed that his sling was off, even if he was still favoring the shoulder Salvago had stabbed.

"Sanity," the old wizard replied smartly.

I looked over the three wizards, each of them showing the wear and tear of a long couple of days. "Where are the others?" I asked.

"Dear Vaccaro was worse than he let on," Argondian said. "The young Amy was checking on him and Simon, and will be returning to coordinate for us."

"Coordinate?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you all were ordered back?"

Moretti shot a dark look at Nelson, guessing who had told me about the state of the Council. The bald wizard looked back impassively as Argondian replied. "Well, dear Bassillo and young Simon are in no condition to travel. So I'm afraid we must remain at least a little bit longer."

As he was speaking, Anya arrived with Sal. She was geared up as well, having retrieved Q's weapons for us. With one of her swords broken and my spear lost in Anavatos, we'd decided to claim the goblin's enchanted blades for ourselves.

Anya handed me one belt and sheath, keeping the second for herself. She'd wanted an enchanted blade, and there was a dark glint to her grin that made me wonder if Q would be getting that one back.

I held my hand out for Sal to come over to me, but the little guy took off instead for Rose's shoulder, where he quickly scurried to her ear. I saw her lean in as he began to trill softly to her, and wondered at the exchange.

"Woody," Nelson said, drawing my attention away. I joined him as he stepped across the room, where he motioned toward my stomach. "How's the marking holding up?"

"It's gone," I admitted. "Took a shower earlier."

"Do you want me to redo it?" he asked, brandishing a pen.

"Sure," I said as I shrugged off my coat and shirt.

"Did you tell him our plan?" Moretti asked as Nelson worked. I realized that left Anya and Rose alone with Argondian, who was doing his best to convince either of them — or perhaps both — to fulfill an old man's dying wish before he faced the Reaper.

Neither was sympathetic. Especially the girl that was, in some ways, the Reaper.

"What plan?" I asked as the bald wizard shook his head.

"When we get there, we're going to need to cut our way through the undead," Moretti said. "The sky has cleared, so there won't be any rains to knock out whatever zombies he has left."

"Nor would it help with the enthralled Chians," I said.

Moretti nodded. "That'll be the hard part. Not hurting any mortals while we work our way to Salvago. But assuming some of us get there, our goal is to take out Peña and Katya with whatever means necessary."

"I thought Vaccaro said…" I started, before glancing at Nelson. He kept his eyes on the circle on my stomach.

"Argondian said he's wrong about the death curse," Moretti said bluntly. "If Black Court vampires can cast death curses, so can Revenants. Peña is dead."

I couldn't believe how grateful I was for his conviction. If my words to Nelson had fallen short, Moretti's would surely be enough to assure the young wizard that he hadn't watched on as my roommate executed his apprentice. "But the others…" I said.

"Argondian is going to find Penny," Moretti said. "I'm going for Peña. Nelson will try to find Martin. If we can subdue them, we'll join together to face Salvago."

"What about Katya? And the Hound?"

"We were hoping you and your pet vamp… Anya would try to take care of Katya," Moretti replied.

The gruff wizard was clearly biting his tongue at having to refer to the girl as anything other than a monster. But he'd seen her fight beside us, and help Simon when he was in pain, without benefit to herself. Maybe that had been enough to convince him that not every monster was evil.

After all, not every wizard was good either. Or we wouldn't be in this mess.

"That's all good and well," I said. "But I'm not sure we'd be a match for her. I got a few shots in on Peña, but that was because he didn't know what I was capable of, and because he's apparently lost a step since he died." I shrugged ironically. "Katya is a warden. A living, breathing one that hasn't lost any power."

"It's not perfect, but it'll have to do," Nelson said. I took it he meant the plan rather than the circle. That looked fine. "Ideally we'll be able to take them on in teams, and eventually work our way to Salvago."

"I'm _sure_ they'll accommodate us," I said with a complete lack of conviction.

"Do you think you can handle the Lampad?" Moretti asked. "That will be the most important part. Making sure she and the Hound don't tear us apart when we face Salvago."

"I do," I said confidently, even if it wasn't the truth.

I was going to say something else, but a stunted shout across the room drew our attention back to Argondian, who was rubbing a burn he'd received on his palm. He was scowling at it, even as Anya tried to hold back her laughter. Rose's frown had returned, and I wondered where the wizard's hand had been that it would get scorched.

Moretti growled beneath his breath before turning back to me. "Salvago will likely have the Lampad and the Hound with him. The plan is for you to take care of her while we split our attention between the Hound and the Lich. We'll likely need to incapacitate all of his Revenants before we can destroy him."

"That's how it worked in the books," I agreed. Moretti frowned at that, but I noticed Nelson gave a small smile.

"I would never!" Argondian declared across the room, once again drawing our gaze. Q's enchanted sword was halfway out of its sheath, and a fierce scowl let me know Anya was ready to give it a try.

"Let me—" I began, but Nelson waived me off. Moretti saw it, and nodded before heading over to settle the others down. I turned to the bald wizard, only to find him retrieving a somewhat familiar black coat.

"Isn't this Simon's?" I asked, looking at the dark fabric that defied identification. It was thin to the touch, like canvas, but the texture was different.

"He's sorry he can't join us," Nelson explained. "Since he can't use it, he said he'd lend it to you for the night. It's got some defensive spellwork, and it's in one piece," he added with a pointed glance at my duct taped jacket.

"It looks like it'd be a little small on me," I said doubtfully. Simon was about my height, but was leaner than me. My training with Q had left me with some modest muscle, which made the coat one size too small.

"That shouldn't be a problem," the bald wizard said, and began to tug at the fabric while chanting something beneath his breath. As I watched, his fingers pulled at the dark material, and my eyes widened as I saw it stretch where-ever he touch it. "It's actually quite versatile."

I took the coat from him, and shrugged it over my shoulders. With the magical modifications, the thing would fit over my own coat, providing me with an extra layer of protection. "Will it hold up any better to a warden's blade than my own?" I asked him as I ran a hand along the sleeve.

"I wouldn't imagine so," Nelson said with a shake of his head. "Those things cut through every enchantment I've seen."

I fingered the cloth, and then turned to look at Anya, who was decked out in her white biking leathers. Her jacket was still somewhat torn from our very first encounter with the Hound, and had taken a beating since. "Can you shrink it to her size?"

Nelson eyed her, and gave a sharp nod. "I imagine so."

I shrugged the slick jacket off and handed it back. "I'd prefer she have a little something extra heading into this. Mine will hold up to everything but the blades. Hers has a little Kevlar at best."

The bald wizard got to work sizing the jacket down, and I went over to tell Anya about it. Her eyes sparkled when she heard she'd be getting another enchanted item, and quickly headed over to Nelson. As I rejoined the others, I heard her ask something about, "Come in white?"

A flicker of light caught my attention, and I flinched as a flaming Sal came flying through the air at me. He landed on my shoulder, having leapt several feet across the room from Rose's outstretched hand. His skin was ablaze, and he spun excitedly on my shoulder.

"Whoa, whoa," I said quickly. "I don't have my ring. You can burn me."

The salamander stopped his excited spinning, and instead sniffed at me disappointedly, as if I'd ruined his fun. But without Violet's ring on my finger, I was just as vulnerable to flame as anyone else. The flames petered out, leaving the salamander fidgeting anxiously in his own skin.

While I'd been talking to Nelson and Moretti, I'd apparently missed Amy's return. She joined us to hand out more communication stones. "I've re-calibrated the spells," she informed us. "I'll monitor you all, and help however I can. I'd go with, but combat isn't really my thing," she said with a self-conscious shrug.

"Don't sweat it," I told her. "You've already helped out a lot. I'm glad to have you watching out for us."

The goth girl smiled a sheepish smile, no doubt feeling exposed due to her lack of make-up. The face-paint she'd worn had taken a beating in the rain, and she hadn't replaced it since. She was cute underneath all of that, something that Anya had obviously noted.

"Don't worry, sweetie," the punky vampire said as she slid an arm around the goth wizard's waist. I noted that Nelson had gotten Simon's jacket tapered down to her size, and it was fairly snug over her white jacket. "I promise you'll get as much action as you want when I get back."

Anya's eyes glinted silver as she smiled at the girl, eliciting a blush from her. I rolled my eyes and turned away, knowing Anya would have the poor thing eating out of her hand before long. My gaze drifted over Moretti, who didn't seem to approve. But at least he kept his mouth shut.

"Alright, everyone get everything ready," I said, and they did just that. I noted Moretti had his own enchanted blade in sheath on his hip. Nelson had his staff, and Argondian his vials. Anya retrieved her assortment of weapons, including the hundred-round drums and Desert Eagles, and Q's blade. I had the other, along with my own guns and the weapons left over from the bag. Sal was hopping excitedly on all fours, and I had to wonder at his enthusiasm.

When we were ready, Rose nodded, her torch appearing out of nowhere. We all reached out to place a hand on the Lampad — I noted that Argondian did so very carefully — and then with a swirl of light, we were in the Ways.

It didn't take long to get where we were going. The shorter the distance in the real world, the shorter the journey in the Lampad tunnels. I was already bored with the Ways, but the wizards had informed me the night before that this method of travel seemed to be unique to the torch-bearers. Penny had offered many assurances that the Never-never was in fact a wonderful place, should I ever get to see it.

Thoughts of her sobered me as our group grew to a halt, and Rose took us back to the real world.

I turned to look upon the mountain, rising high overhead. It was even more intimidating from the bottom than it had been at the top. Or maybe it just seemed that way because I knew what awaited us.

"How does it look?" Moretti asked. He was addressing Nelson, who closed his eyes for a moment before whispering something. When his eyes opened again, his gaze was distant.

"There are defenders everywhere," the bald wizard said softly. I realized with a start that he was using magic to do the same telescoping spell that I had on my glasses. "It looks like most of them are zombies, although some appear to be the Chians he took before."

"The living and the dead stand before us," Rose said, leading us forward. Her torch shone dimly, as if muted to not interfere with our night vision. She too looked to the mountain, and its precarious climb up. "The mágos and his slaves are at the peak."

"That's where they were before," I confirmed.

A sudden thrum filled the air, the sound of a wavering band-saw preceding the distant crack of a rifle. I flinched as I spotted the bullet suspended in mid-air before us, slowly spinning at the center of a rippling pool of air.

After a moment, Moretti gave a dismissive grunt, his steel hand waving in the direction of the enchanted round. The bullet dropped to the ground a few feet in front of Argondian, who hadn't bothered to spare it a second glance.

"Thank you, Sergio," Argondian said as he gazed up at the mountain, seemingly unconcerned with the fact that the bullet would have struck him between the eyes had the magnetic mage not stopped it.

Moretti just nodded, as if stopping bullets in flight was just an everyday thing. Knowing he was a wizard, it might very well be. "It appears they know we're here."

"There's too many," Nelson said numbly, not paying any attention to events closer to home. When we looked to him, it was to see him staring at what awaited us with dismay. "I can see hundreds, if not more, just on the road and the lower section of town. There's a small stretch between there and the upper section," he continued, and I recalled my frantic flight from the place. "It looks like every inch of open space has someone waiting. Thousands in total."

"We will fight our way through," Moretti replied.

"And determine who is living and dead as we go?" Argondian asked softly, his usual joking tone gone. "Will you check each swing of your blade, hold each spell on your lips, until you've confirmed whether all that surround you are the undead?"

"He'll have mixed the two together," Nelson said grimly. "It's a sound strategy. He knows we won't kill those he enthralled. And trying to determine who's who will slow us down until we're overrun."

"You will not have to," Rose said suddenly, cutting through our morose tones with a fierce anger. "You shall face the dark mágos and his slaves; we shall handle the others."

And before I could ask what she meant, flickering lights across the landscape caught my eye. I turned to look toward the rough-hewn land at the base of the mountain, where wispy forms took shape.

Crimson eyes and burning footfalls marked the arrival of dozens upon dozens of Hounds. Each varied in size, some no larger than Sal's most impressive form, while others made the giant we'd faced before look like nothing more than a pup. A few of the hounds sported a pair of heads rather than just the one, although as I searched about, I could not find any with three. Perhaps the legends about that were wrong.

Or perhaps there was only one Hound of Hades that fit that description.

Overhead, flickering shadows accompanied the sound of large wings and distant cries as countless Keres soared through the night, circling the mountain like carrion birds anticipating a feast. Some flew low, passing just overhead, close enough to cause the dirt beneath our feet to kick up into a dusty storm. Most remained high and aloft, their numbers seeming to swell as they gathered together in flights of dark wings.

And at the base of the mountain, spread evenly to oversee the Hounds and the Keres, were the Handmaidens of Hecate.

Aside from the crimson-lit torch beside us, four more Lampades stood ready to face the Lich that had dared to take one of their sisters. An amber light shone brightly in the distance, revealing a cloaked and shrouded figure of a familiar height and stature. Further on stood another nymph, that one bearing a torch of brilliant sapphire. To our right, a citrine glow marked another of the sisters, and beyond her a ferocious emerald light flickered in the distance.

The Hounds seemed to gather around the Lampades, circling on foot even as the Keres swirled about overhead. Smoke drifted from the tread of the Hounds, their scorching feet setting the grasses of the mountainside ablaze, even as the clouds turned about in cadence with the wings of the dark Greek valkyries.

"The mágos thinks himself a god. That he has placed himself beyond the reach of death." I turned to Rose, and found her eyes dark and furious as she gazed at the mountain. Sensing my gaze, she turned to me, her eyes a fiery scarlet that quickened my pulse as I felt an all-too familiar madness tugging at my sanity.

"Let us show him otherwise."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

A howl unlike anything heard in millennia tore through the night as the Shepherds of Hades rode into battle.

At some unseen signal, the Hounds circling the five Lampades erupted into motion, tearing across the landscape. Ash flew from their footsteps as they ran toward the waiting army, a fresh blaze erupting in their wake that shrouded the land in smoke and fire. Our view of the mountain was obscured within moments, and in return, so too was the view from on high.

"The Keres will take you to the peak," Rose declared even as the thundering beat of wings surrounded us. Dark silhouettes dropped into crouches all around us, and we turned as one to look upon the winged creatures of shadow.

I stared openly at the one closest to me. She was nude and feminine, in the same way a statue could be carved to resemble a woman without possessing any of the softness of flesh. Her form was that of a warrior, her arms and legs chiseled in muscle that would not dimple at a touch. Skin like black marble rippled and moved fluidly across her exposed upper body. The great wings folded upon her back were those of a fallen angel, each feather thin and sharp and glinting like obsidian. Her feet were taloned, shaped like those of a bird rather than anything human; so too were her hands, each sharp digit scraping against the hilt of the dark sword she bore in one claw.

The Keres stood as I studied her, those glowing crimson eyes looking me over in return as she grew closer. Her head tilted curiously as she approached, even as her aquiline nose moved in a bobbing motion, as if to catch my scent. Black marble lips peeled back from black dagger-like teeth as she smiled, gesturing to my side with the pointed claw of her free hand.

I glanced down, realizing that she was referencing the wound I'd taken atop the mountain. When I met her eyes again, a cawing sound emanated from her throat. Although her jaw was human looking, their speech was that of avian raptors.

"She is the one who saved you," Rose said softly at my side as the Keres stepped close, her open hand splayed to press gently against my chest. A chill went through me as a familiar sensation rippled through my being at her touch. The bird-like chatter echoed an oddly pleased look to her crimson eyes. "She says she has held your soul in her palm," Rose translated. "A fiery soul, she says; one pleasing to her."

"I'm spoken for," I muttered weakly.

At that, the Keres threw her bald head back, her dark scalp shining in the cerise light from the torch as she laughed a cackling laugh. It startled the others, who had been busy growing comfortable with their own dark shepherds.

"She says she will take you above, where you shall face the mágos," Rose continued when the avian laughter trailed off. "And should you fall again, she will personally accompany you to the Three Judges."

"Or, you know," I said softly, "she could keep me alive, like before."

When I finished speaking, the Keres' claw tightened on my coat, pulling me forward quickly. Her eyes burned brightly as she scowled at me, her warbled chatter low and throaty.

"She says the only death to fear is an unworthy one," Rose warned. "As she spared your life, your death must be in a manner she finds suitable. There is no greater death than that in the service of Hades."

"Well, I'll try not to disappoint her," I said with a forced smile, which the Keres matched with a fierce one.

"You must go," Rose said loudly to the rest. "The Hounds will send the restless back to their slumber, and my sisters and I will see to those the mágos has bewitched. But we cannot grow close to the mágos himself, for fear that he will take us in turn." Her gaze shifted back to me. "That task falls to you."

Argondian and the others nodded, and then the Keres were moving around us. I saw Anya flinch as one took position behind her, wrapping a dark arm about her waist. Then my view was clouded by my own Keres' wings as she did the same to me, holding us tightly together.

And then, without any so much as offering a seatbelt or pack of peanuts, the Keres leapt to the skies, their dark wings beating like thundering shadows around us as we soared upward.

* * *

In my years on the planet, there have only been a handful of occasions where my feet have left the ground for any extended period. I've flown in planes a few times, but I've never been much of a traveler. I've been up in helicopters during my EMT and fire training in school. And Chicago is home to several skyscrapers, one of which has a viewing platform with a glass bottom that you can stand on, looking down and out across the city.

Nothing in my life had prepared me for flying thousands of feet into the air secured only by a single arm wrapped around my waist.

The Keres' cries were fierce as we soared into the sky, quickly surpassing the smoky landscape below. From above, I could see where the Hounds of Hades had charged up the slope and had begun darting back and forth amongst the undead defenders, the wild grasses burning behind them. The dark forms drove the zombies to the ground one by one, slamming them to turf and thrusting their heads into the bodies. When they withdrew, the magics sustaining the undead were torn forcefully from their forms. Those that retained flesh and bone slumped to the ground, while the th rest crumbled into the pieces that remained.

And then the Hounds would leap upon another, and then another, sending each back to the rest they had so cruelly been denied. Those that resisted did so with futility, as the crude weapons the enthralled Chians thrust with had no more effect on the beasts than Anya's sword had back in the graveyard. And rather than retaliating against those still breathing, the Hounds continued on, leaving them untouched.

Behind them, the five Lampades strode forward, their torchlights burning brilliantly in the night as they approached the enthralled defenders. Those that charged them stumbled to a halt as the light washed over them, transfixing their gaze with wavering flames. Weapons, bricks and clubs and any other crude tools the Chians had gathered, all fell limply to the ground as they swayed before the Lampades, just as I had seen them do atop the mountain.

Only this time, when the nymphs finished their work, the innocent crumpled to the turf, unconscious and blissfully unaware.

I took in the sights of the battle, focusing on the details below rather than the fact that I hurtled perilously through the air. My hands held fast to the stony grip around my stomach. But the Keres' strength was immense, and her solid form behind me somewhat reassuring as we rose higher and higher.

"Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck…" I heard Anya muttering for a moment as our paths briefly crossed in our journey. I caught a glimpse of Nelson, who seemed to be concentrating on the backs of his eyelids while his fingers worked the prayer bracelet he wore around his wrist.

Moretti seemed non-plussed, if not a little irritated at having to be in direct contact with the monsters. Argondian was making a curious study of his Keres' form, touching and prodding while casting glances at her face to make sure she wasn't about to drop him in offense; but her disinterest in his activities could not have been more stony.

As for Sal…

Well, Sal had wriggled into the bullet hole in my coat pocket, his fiery gills extended as he weaved his head back and forth through the wind, emitting a a joyous trill.

"You're a little crazy," I muttered down at him. In response, he looked back at me for a second, letting his slim tongue loll out of his wedged mouth as if he were a dog hanging out a car window. "Mad," I reiterated, before gripping the arm around me tighter as we turned through the air.

Our ascent had been quick and brutal, climbing the several thousand feet of the mountain in moments. The Keres carrying our party were at the rear of the flock soaring toward the upper portion of Anavatos, their dark forms nothing more than shadows in the night as they swooped back and forth. As we grew closer, the Keres in the lead began diving toward the houses. The few defenders that had made their way to the roofs were quickly thrown down. Those that were breathing were cast aside with some modest care, while the dead were sliced into pieces by the slim black swords the dark valkyries bore.

The crack of rifle fire sounded now and again, as Katya fired upon the Keres from some hidden location. Our shepherds had carried us higher, and we watched helplessly as one shot exploded against a Keres. The dark form wobbled in the air before falling between buildings.

An angry hiss escaped the pursed lips of my Keres, and then we were diving for the city. I might have screamed as we went, and I looked frantically about. I saw that the others were following suit, their own Keres descending in what seemed like a suicidal dive for the ancient stone structures.

"Holy shit!" Nelson shouted from somewhere over one shoulder, the monk-like wizard momentarily losing his composure.

"Stay on target!" I shouted in return, a giddy smile breaking through my own terror as the Keres' dive along the street's narrow width reminded me of the trench run on the Death Star.

"Bombs away!" Anya screamed as her Keres released her. I lost sight of her, as they had descended along a different street. I turned to prepare for my own landing, but an explosion overhead distracted me just as the Keres released my waist.

My legs hit the ground hard, but I managed to roll with my momentum, and tumbled over once or twice before righting myself. I quickly scanned the sky, and saw that my Keres was soaring back toward the clouds, her sword having decapitated the zombies on the street before me. A fiery light was emanating from her right wing, leaving a trail of red-hot glass feathers in her wake. I realized that she must have been hit by one of Katya's enchanted rounds just as we'd dove for cover, and thanked my lucky stars I hadn't been hit.

The Keres shot through the sky, keeping a surprisingly low trajectory. Several more of her sisters joined her, and I blinked as I watched four of them crash through the open windows of one of the two tallest buildings. Flashes erupted inside, and I realized they'd pinpointed Katya's position, and were taking their revenge. I could imagine I could hear the fierce screams of the warrior women inside, avenging those that had fallen.

As soon as I was upright and stable, I was turning to look for the others. While I spun, Sal leapt from my pocket to the dirt road where we'd landed. He kept his smaller size, and sniffed at the air.

"You got it?" I asked. The salamander turned his head back to me, and gave a doubtful bark. "Do what you can, okay?"

The supernatural amphibian gave a confirmation trill, and then he was off. In his small form, Sal quickly disappeared into the shadows, moving with a speed that anything short of a leopard would be jealous of.

Another explosion overhead made me turn, and I saw the body of a Keres snap backwards as a round struck her in the face. Her wings shot out wide, catching wind as she began to tumble, but it looked more like a reflex than something planned.

She and her charge were still a good fifty feet up when they both began their twirling descent to the ground, and my breath caught as I lost sight of Moretti before a booming crash accompanied his landing.

"Holy fuck," I said as I drew a pistol from one holster. I left my sword sheathed as I started to run in that direction, and brought up the Beretta alone when several defenders stumbled around the corner.

I popped the safety off and fired on two of the four forms that charged me with awkward gates. The zombies' heads snapped back before their bodies crumpled, and I once again thanked whoever it was that researched all those zombie movies, for repeatedly insisting that head shots were kill shots.

Sure, the bodies were still writhing on the ground. But their cognitive abilities seemed to go from two to zero. As long as I didn't fall atop them, they were no threat to me.

The two enthralled Chians were a different matter entirely.

A man and woman charged me, and as I holstered my gun again, I noted a soft emerald and amethyst glow to their eyes as they came. Violet's power had entranced them, breaking their minds for Salvago to piece back together. They were innocent, despite seeming more than willing to bash my skull in with the stones and bricks they carried.

The man reached me first, and I easily ducked to one side as he swung his brick. I turned the motion into a hook that connected with his jaw. Whatever power was controlling him, it required consciousness. His lightly glowing eyes fluttered shut as he fell, and my attention turned to the woman just as she threw her stone at my head.

"Hey, whoa!" I shouted as I ducked to one side, allowing the stone to miss my scalp by two inches. It thudded against the stone wall of an ancient home, even as the woman ran at me with her hands clenched into talons. "Stop!" I tried, hoping to reason with the enthralled woman.

She slammed into me, her nails clawing at my face as I gripped her wrists. She was old, older than my mother by at least a couple decades, but she attacked with a ferocity born of madness. I struggled to hold on to her as she kicked and tore at me, her teeth gnashing threateningly when she was inches away.

And then suddenly she was wrenched back, and I saw her glowing eyes shift around before a fist clean clocked her, sending her spinning to the ground.

"Was that you trying to reason with a thrall?" Anya asked in disbelief, an eyebrow cocked.

"What was I supposed to do, hit an old lady?" I shot back as I drew the Beretta to take aim at a zombie that rounded a corner behind her. My aim was off, and the round struck it one shoulder, causing it to stagger.

Anya raised her own pistol, one of the Desert Eagles with the hundred-round drum, and opened up at the thing. The head exploded as half a dozen bullets tore through it.

"Hmgh," Anya said as she adjusted the setting on the gun to not waste ammunition. "You're such a pig."

"What are you talking about?" I said as I started toward where I'd seen Moretti fall.

"Won't hit a girl," Anya muttered. "But you hit me in sparring practice all the _time_."

"To clarify," I said, pausing to take out another zombie lumbering toward us. "You're mad that I didn't hit an old lady."

"She was trying to kill you!" Anya said as she drew Q's enchanted sword from her hip. I started to shout a warning, to tell her that the other person charging us looked like another thrall. But she had already realized it, and swung with the back side of the blade, a moderately crushing blow to the temple that sent the man to the ground.

"How about I handle the guys, and you handle the girls," I said as we continued to the corner.

"How about you grow a pair and—" she said before her eyes widened. Her arm moved lighting quick, striking me in the chest. The blow sent me reeling back, which meant that the spell aimed at my backside missed, hitting Anya in the chest.

The vampire disappeared in a flash of yellow light, crashing into the dilapidated building at the corner. The wall crumbled beneath the impact, and she disappeared in the shadows before I'd even turned to see what we were facing.

The other wizard, the warden they'd called Martin, was standing only a few feet away. His right hand was extended out, and I saw light glint from within the rings on his fingers as he unleashed another spell. I dove back toward the alley as another flash of citrine light struck out, the air around it hot and crackling.

"Fuck!" I shouted as I hit the ground hard. I reached for my coat as I scrambled backward, fighting a sense of deja vu as yet another wizard stalked toward me, prepared to kill me in this God forsaken town. As the Revenant wizard raised his right hand again, I let loose with the pair of iron balls I'd pulled from my pocket. " _Gwedh!_ "

With the command, a slim line of glowing green appeared between the bola balls, before cooling into something darker. Once connected, the two spun around one another as they flew through the air, the goblin magic worked into them guiding them toward my intended target.

Said target lifted his left hand as they approached, and I saw the glint of metal on his staff as he raised it in defense. The line made of goblin magic struck the weapon, and green sparks flew as the spell broke apart on contact with what looked to be steel. The balls spun to either side of the wizard, who hadn't even had the decency to flinch. His glowing green eyes remained steadfast upon me.

"Oh, come _on!_ " I shouted as I scrambled backwards until I was on my feet. " _I_ _'_ _m_ the one that's supposed to have a cool steel staff weapon!"

Clearly sensing my frustration, Martin the Revenant proved to be sympathetic. Rather than blasting me with his rings, he raised the staff I was envious of and darted forward, thrusting the end at my chest. I brought my arms up to block, but the runes on the weapon shone with an inner light. It must have had some disorientation spell or something put into it, because my movements became uncoordinated as a dizzying sensation washed over me. The staff struck true, landing with a solid thud right over my heart.

A crackling yellow light burst from the end of the weapon, and my body shook as I flew backwards. I crashed to the ground and rolled helplessly, my limbs slow to respond. It felt like I'd been electrocuted on a sunny day, if that makes any sense. Not much did in those first few moments after I was hit. As I finally figured out it was still in fact night, and I was still in fact losing yet another duel with a wizard, all I could do was flop around to watch as the mage lifted his right hand again to finish me off.

Perhaps a second before he fired off another blast, a scuffing sound behind him clued him to a threat. He turned his body as the spell was unleashed, and I narrowly avoided the thick shaft of yellow lightning that raked the street to my left. He twisted to meet Anya's attack, and steel rang as her enchanted blade crashed against the wizard's steel staff, more yellow light sparking where they met.

I watched them as I stumbled to my feet, the wizard doing what he could against the vampire clearly reluctant to kill him. Anya's face was set with grim determination, and I knew she wouldn't be willing to kill the man she'd fought with during the siege. Not when there was a chance he could still be saved.

The White court vampire had drawn her second sword, the short straight-bladed weapon one of the pair she usually wielded. If her coordination was thrown off by using one of Q's longer, curving blades, it didn't show. The girl moved like quicksilver, her argent eyes shining in the golden light that shone from Martin's weapon.

But despite her advantage of speed and strength, the wizard held his ground. Energy rippled between the two of them as they dueled. Martin wielded the staff in both hands, deflecting attacks as they came, all while shooting smaller blasts of yellow light from his rings when he had the chance. Anya was quick enough to avoid most of them, but more than one struck the black coat she wore.

Whatever spellwork Simon had put into the jacket, it was enough to prevent the attacks from disabling her as they had done to me. Anya moved faster and faster, her skin beginning to glow with a soft light as she searched for a way around the wizard's defenses. The disorienting spell seemed to do just enough to allow the less experienced wizard to remain untouched, right up until I struck him in the back of the neck with the flat of my sword.

The wizard staggered, and it was enough to provide an opening. Anya's fist lashed out, hitting the wizard perhaps harder than necessary, but enough to send him to the ground.

"Thank—" Anya began, but I didn't hear the rest as the zombies I hadn't known were behind me surged forward after the wizard fell.

"Ack!" I said, ducking my head as a thick branch bounced off my skull. Arms grabbed at me, pulling me off balance. I tried to spin, calling on my seemingly endless training with a restless goblin sensei, but my limbs still weren't quite normal after the shocking blow to my chest. The blow to my head hadn't done me any favors either. I fell as my knees wobbled, and then the zombies were surging over me.

Anya was there in a flash, the skin of her face and hands all but brilliant as she blurred into motion. The two swords stabbed and slashed, decapitating one zombie as another was torn asunder with a twisted blade to the gut. Another fell to a crushing blow that turned bone to dust, and the last was set to be skewered in the eye when a hum filled the air, and Anya's sword thrust froze an inch from its target.

Both of us blinked in surprise, and then watched as an invisible blast threw the enemy against the wall. It hit with a solid thump, and then slipped to the dirt road. The branch he'd wielded against me fell from his grasp.

Anya stared at the fallen man with wide eyes, her breath suddenly panting as she watched red blood trickle from a wound to the scalp. "That one was not a zombie," Moretti growled from behind us.

Anya turned to see the wizard limping toward us. I sort of just rolled over, not yet trusting my legs to hold me up. The wizard looked to be more in my condition than hers, as he stumbled with his good arm bracing him against one wall. He'd just finished lowering his steel arm, and his magnetic grip on Anya's weapon was released.

"T-Thanks," Anya stuttered, clearly unnerved by the exchange. Her eyes shot down as she caught her breath, the light fading from her as she stopped using the power reserves available to a White Court vampire.

"Fighting them is hard enough," the wizard grumbled as he checked over Martin. "Don't make things worse by giving in to your monstrous bloodlust."

"Hey!" I snapped, my temper flaring. I'd been trying to meditate, and a warm glow of power had begun to radiate out from my naval before the wizard's harsh words pissed me off, breaking my concentration. "She was trying to save me!"

"Maybe you shouldn't have come, if you need so much saving," Moretti barked as he shot a dark look at me.

I stumbled to my feet, but Anya's voice held me back. "Woody, don't."

"You can't—"

"He's right," she said softly.

I turned, glancing at her in surprise. She'd turned away, and was watching the far end of the alley in case any more defenders appeared. But I could see her eyes when they turned toward me, before quickly looking away. They were shot through with silver, and hunger, and something altogether dark.

"You're not a monster," I whispered harshly. "And you—"

"Sometimes I am," she bit back, growing angry with my apparent naivety.

"But—"

"Save your therapy session for another time," Moretti said as knelt by Martin. He'd tied one of the beaded necklaces Amy had given us around the Revenant's neck. The goth wizard had assured us that the dark glass marbles would keep our quarry unconscious. "Something's wrong with the stones. I haven't been able to reach Amy or the others."

My hand went for my own communication stone, but I felt nothing as I touched it. "Same for me," I grumbled, willing to let the argument go for the moment.

"We need to find the others and regroup," Moretti said as he finished tying Martin's hands and securing a gag. The Revenant wizard's weapons had been tossed out of reach, just in case Amy's charms didn't work as well as we hoped.

I retrieved my own weapons, and then joined Moretti and Anya as they continued up the road toward the peak. Anya refused to meet my gaze, a hard look settling over her face. I wanted to try and undo the damage Moretti was doing, but she wasn't going to be receptive in that mood.

The girl had struggled with the monster inside her since before we'd met. Every White Court vampire had a hunger inside that drove them to feed and kill, but Anya had done her best to subdue it. Before we'd met, that had consisted of her trying to starve the thing. That had only resulted in the hunger eventually growing to great, to the point she would lose control.

Since we'd met, she'd been doing much better. She hadn't killed anyone in that time, and she'd learned to temper her hunger. She said she knew of another vampire that did the same, taking the smallest tastes from dozens of victims rather than taking too much from any one. That level of control was well beyond her own ability, but she was making great strides in controlling herself and the monster inside.

That said, she was clearly shaken by her actions in the alley. Had Moretti not arrived when he did, I had no doubt the enthralled Chian would have died at her hands. A death not by loss of control when feeding, but from loss of control in combat. From letting the thing inside dictate her actions, consequences be damned.

That didn't make her a monster. Not when we were in such a desperate and impossible situation. But Moretti's words had taken my friend to a dark place, and I didn't want to leave her there.

"Anya," I whispered softly, but sounds from nearby drew us up short. Moretti was off in a flash, with Anya following close behind. I brought up the rear, and rounded a corner just in time to see Peña's sword take Argondian's head off.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"NO!" I screamed, as Peña's blade finished cutting its way through the old wizard's neck.

The earth mage looked up as we arrived, his glowing green eyes fixing on Moretti as the biggest threat. Peña started forward, so intent on fighting the steel-armed mage that he failed to notice how Argondian's body fell to the old stone road with a bloody splash. He didn't even notice that Argondian had done a full-on Obi-Wan Kenobi, his body disappearing upon his death.

He noticed when the remnants of the old wizard splattered against his legs.

And he _definitely_ noticed when the splatter then began to work its way up his body.

"What the…" I began, even as Peña started ripping at what I belatedly realized was paint with his free hand. The liquid clung to him, quickly sliding up toward his face. Peña dropped his sword as a swirl of colors ran up his neck, before spilling over into his mouth.

"Gross," Anya said as Peña struggled to free himself from the paint. When his fingers clawed at it, the paint clung to him, stretching out like putty. In moments his fingers were glued together, even as the rest of the paint spread over his body. His mouth worked silently, thin strands of color stretching over his gaping maw before snapping it shut.

It was a similar spell to what I'd seen Argondian use against Rai; a paint spell that had hardened over his face, blinding him and suffocating him and preventing him from verbally casting spells all at once. Only this time there was enough paint to cover Peña head to toe.

"It's certainly not elegant," Argondian said as he appeared beside us. I stared at him in surprise, and then returned my gaze to the liquid remnants of his 'body' that worked at binding Peña's arms and legs together. "But Andrés is much too strong to duel one-on-one, even in his weakened state."

"How?" Anya asked, clearly as confused as I was.

"Water double," Moretti said softly, as if he too hadn't fallen for the trick.

"Just so," Argondian said with a sharp incline of his bushy head. "Paint given my form and coloring; a thin membrane that, when attacked, breaks down to then cling to my opponent."

"Uh," I said worriedly as Peña worked one hand free. It was a struggle, the paint clinging to him and drawing his limbs to his sides. But the earth mage got his left hand free enough to touch the gnarled wood at his waist. "Shouldn't we…"

I gestured toward him, just as Peña's hand seized on the staff. The ground all around us began to rumble as the dirt shifted, gliding across the surface of the road to climb up the earth mage's legs. We watched as the sand and dust swirled tightly against the wizard's body, grinding against the paint.

"Uh-oh," Argondian said almost apologetically.

Peña had disappeared into a human formed figure of clay, the earthen material shifting and spinning all across his body. As it did, the dirt bled red and green and blue, becoming stained with the paint it absorbed.

And then the dirt began to fall away, slowly revealing the furious visage of the earth mage.

"Time to go?" Argondian asked us, even as Peña's earth covered arm rose, bearing the gnarled staff.

The four of us started to move, but we were too late. With a wave of his arm, the ground beneath us dissolved, devouring us like quicksand. I scrambled for an edge to cling to, but Peña had made sure to spread the effect to a wide area. The circumference of the spell continued to spread, until the ground shifted beneath the earthen wall beside us. The entire thing teetered for a precarious moment before Peña snapped his wrist. The earth shuttered, and the wall began its free-fall across us, easily a couple thousand pounds of stone that would crush us like bugs.

So it was really fortunate that Nelson decided to arrive just then, spinning his staff around in an upswing. The motion mirrored the bright kinetic half-sphere that appeared beneath the falling wall, striking at it like a powerful uppercut.

The wall exploded, sending fragments everywhere. Stone shrapnel landed all around us, but we were spared the fate of being crushed. We were still drowning in quicksand, mind you, but beggars can't be choosers.

"Hang on," Moretti grumbled as he reached for a large segment of the wall that had fallen beside him. His steel fingers grasped at it, finding purchase enough to anchor himself. When he had his shoulders above the sand, he reached his other arm out to Anya.

"Eep!" the girl yelped as a magnetic tug pulled her to him, his magic seizing on her swords. She managed to not impale herself with them, and instead used her higher position to dig toward the edge of the pit. When the longer sword tip bit into solid ground, she pulled herself along, a few inches at a time.

I turned to check on Argondian, struggling to keep my head above the sand. As I twisted my head around, I saw the older wizard's upper body popping free from the pit. He'd managed to get his larger tube of red paint free, and the liquid whip I'd seen before had been wrapped around a distant portion of the building that hadn't collapsed. The paint was drawing him out slowly, and he gave me a pleased smile.

"Here, Mister Hayes," he said, reaching his free hand toward me. I managed to get my arm free to flail in his direction, but he was too far away.

Fortunately, Moretti decided to show off, and turned his magnetic power on me. The metal weapons all across me pushed through the sand, dragging me along with it, and after a few moments I was able to reach Argondian.

Seconds later, the four of us were free of the trap. Moretti was already moving in the direction Peña and Nelson had disappeared, the younger wizard managing to hold his own against the Revenant.

"You okay?" I asked Anya, who was shaking sand from Simon's jacket.

"Yeah," she said with a dark scowl. "But if we survive this, let's never speak to any wizards ever again."

"Oh, my love," Argondian said with a heartbroken tone, his hand clutched to his chest. "You wound me."

Rather than replying, Anya took off after the others, and Argondian and I gave chase.

We spotted Peña and Nelson working their way down the road toward the square I'd seen earlier. The earth mage was retreating from the monk's fierce attack, his magics fueling him to speeds matching Anya's. Moretti was hot on their heals, but my friend quickly passed him.

As I looked around, a cold dread filled me. "Wait, come back!"

"Why? He has him on the run," Argondian said as we ran.

"Because I was here earlier!" I shouted. "But these vines _weren_ _'_ _t!_ "

Thick leafy tendrils had worked their way over almost every building in the square. Such growth might have been expected to be found an abandoned and overgrown place, but I knew better. Anavatos had been a dead and barren place, both before and after Salvago had set up shop there.

There was only one reason for the sudden surge in flora, and that was Penny.

Which meant we'd just run into another of Salvago's traps.

"STOP!" Argondian shouted as he realized what I meant. But our warning came to late. Even before the word left his lips, the creepers all around us started to writhe. Joining them was the lattice of vines unseen beneath the square that erupted upward, just as they had back in Chios Town when Penny had tried to take out one of the ward lamps.

The vines whipped around the legs of the others, catching them just as surely as the quicksand had. Nelson stumbled, even as Peña was spared, and the old warden's sword whistled as it came back at the off-balance monk.

A thrum accompanied Moretti's outstretched hand, and Peña's swing was momentarily checked by his magnetic spell. The steel-armed wizard strained to hold the warden's sword still, the enchantments on it making it all but impossible to control.

It bought Nelson the time he needed to use his enhanced strength to rip free of the vines, and Peña's sword swung free over his bald head as he dove aside. More vines were ready to catch him up, but his staff started lashing out, white blades of kinetic energy making the blunt ends sharp enough to cut through the foliage.

It was a good thing he could take care of himself, because the rest of us were busy trying to stay alive.

Penny had been busy. The small square was surrounded by about half a buildings of varying size, each one to two stories in height. Vines and creepers had spread across most of the surfaces facing the square, and as the trap was sprung, the vines crept out to cut off any avenue of escape. Within moments, we were within a four-walled cage, where the only openings were the doorways to the buildings, out of which a hundred zombies and thralls poured.

Moretti had started toward Nelson, but the sudden appearance of the Hound had him reeling backwards. The beast was all but non-corporeal when it came to mundane weapons, but it seemed that the enchantments on the irritable wizard's steel arm and sword weren't so easily dismissed. But despite having weapons that might harm the thing, Moretti was struggling to keep up. It flickered in and out, striking from whichever side was least defended.

I watched a swing of Moretti's sword pas through empty space as the dog disappeared, only to return from his blindside. A savage swipe of its massive paw left a ragged tear in the warden's cloak, and I saw red spill out as he fell to a knee. Before the beast could finish him, Moretti swung his sword again, narrowly missing the Hound as it retreated.

As much as the rest of us wanted to help, we were tied up with the vines and the defenders. Anya and I were both shooting as many zombies as we could safely identify, make sure to preserve ammo with accurate head-shots rather than spraying the on-rushing crowd. Argondian's liquid whip was thrashing all about, cutting through the vines that tried to confine him. Each tendril that he cut then turned into a weapon for him to use, as he manipulated the water in the creepers. I saw him throw a particularly thick vine at a pair of thralls, which quickly wrapped around their legs.

As my second magazine emptied, I looked about frantically as I reloaded, hoping to find a way out. The sky was open, so the Keres might be able to retrieve us, if they were willing to risk coming so close to Salvago.

Only the two largest buildings in the square had a third floor; the one they'd kept me in during my first visit, and the one that the Keres had attacked in search of Katya. There was no sign of the winged women or the sniper, but I could make out the faint glimmer of amethyst light atop the other building. It was enough to silhouette the dark form of Yannis Salvago, who stood over the proceedings like a judge awaiting a verdict.

Or, perhaps, a self-declared god expecting an imminent victory.

"Fall back!" I shouted, but my words were useless. With the vines writhing around our ankles and the defenders charging from every direction, there was nowhere to fall back _to_. Nor was anyone listening. Anya was busy hacking away at a vine that had wrapped around her gun arm. With one end sliced off, she wrenched her arm back up, tearing the foliage with her brute strength to take aim at an oncoming zombie.

"Hayes!" Argondian shouted, drawing my attention. I turned to see his whip lashing toward me. The red paint wrapped around one wrist, and my heart leapt into my chest as I recalled a similar trick ending with Rai losing his hands. But rather than cutting, his paint whip pulled at me, dragging me off balance.

The whip's recoil was greater than the old wizard could have managed by brute force alone. Magically enhanced, it pulled me with enough strength to leave me tumbling through the air. Before I could question his motives, a brilliant flash of yellow light erupted where I'd been standing as the Revenant Martin rejoined the fray.

"C'mon!" I shouted as the wizard stalked toward me, his staff swinging to one side as he prepared another blast with his other hand. The gap in the vines that had allowed him entry to the square quickly closed behind him.

"I will deal with Mister Fors," Argondian said as he charged past, vines trailing from his legs as he went. "Keep the thralls and zombies at bay."

"Sure. No problem," I shouted from my back as vines encircled my waist. When I tried to rise, the tendrils tightened, even as more began to wrap around my arms. "I'll get right on it."

Thankfully Anya was still up, although she'd discarded the first of her Desert Eagles, and was quickly burning through the hundred-round drum of the second. Most of the zombies had been dropped, but the thralls were encircling each of us. Soon we wouldn't have a choice in the matter.

We either killed the thralls, or died ourselves.

I hacked at the vines with Q's sword, but for every one I cut, two more wrapped around my arm. I tried to pull it free, but it was pinned fast. A wrenching motion from the vines at my feet put me flat on my back as they dragged me across the ground, and the last thing I saw before creepers slithered across my face was Penny in the distance, standing atop a low roof.

I struggled to pull free, but there were too many leafy ropes holding me fast. Panic set in as I realized that I couldn't move. The gun was wrenched from my hand, and then so was the sword. I clawed at the plants with my bare hands, until they tightened around my fingers.

When I was well and truly helpless, the plants ceased their stirrings, content on holding me hostage. I tried sitting up, and they resisted only enough to keep me restrained. They didn't try killing me, either by crushing me or cutting off the air to my lungs. They simply held me fast as the others fought for their lives.

I heard an explosion off to one side, but I couldn't see anything. Anya let off a string of curses, and it sounded like the thralls had finally reached her. She was growing desperate, standing on the line between doing the right thing and preserving her own life. I heard Argondian grunt in pain, and Nelson screamed as a grinding sound rumbled through the ground beneath me.

My friends and allies were dying, and I was helpless to do anything.

It's a humbling experience to be well and truly helpless. I'd spent years training with a goblin, learning how to fight. I'd had weapons crafted for me that would give me a chance of surviving against all of the dark and evil things that went bump in the night. I'd faced vampires and hags and demons and dragons.

But I couldn't last two days with wizards.

Hell, I hadn't even lasted _one_. Peña had all but killed me not twenty-four hours ago. Had it not been for everyone working together, I'd be dead. Had Anya and Moretti and Argondian not each saved me during our assault on Anavatos, I'd be dead several times over that night alone.

I was the strongest and most prepared mortal I knew, and I was as helpless as a babe against a flora mage not old enough to vote.

Maybe if I could call lightning down from the skies, I could make a difference. Maybe if I could control the raw elements of the earth, sky, and water, I could make a difference. Maybe if I could manipulate magnetic fields or cast spells with practiced ease, I could make a difference. Maybe if I could fuel magic into my body, making me stronger, faster—

Wait.

What had Nelson said? That against Peña outside the cottage, I had kept up with him? Even though he was running faster than a human might normally move, I'd kept pace?

Impossible. I'd heard him before, and dismissed it as unbelievable.

But what if he was right? What if I could meditate, and channel that power into my body in a way different than what I was used to? What if I could use the symbol he'd drawn on me to try and mimic what he did, using his magic to enhance his physical abilities?

I closed my eyes, forcing myself to calm down. A looming sense of panic had been washing over me as I lay there, hearing those I'd come with fighting to stay alive. But panic would do me no good. What I needed was calm concentration, focus, and a whole lot of luck.

As I meditated, I began to recite the mantra my friend Olivia had taught me for healing, repeating it over and over in my mind. As I did, I felt the power begin to churn within in my gut, spreading out to heal the wounds and fatigue. It coursed through my body, and I kept at it, trying to draw more and more into me, more than what was necessary to heal. Something more, that just might help me survive.

My vision was dark, but as the warmth spread through me, I focused my intent into a burning flame. I could see it in my mind's eye, starting as nothing more than a spark, but quickly growing as I pulled at that power within me. It became a bonfire, washing away the shadows, until I could almost hear the crackling of the flames.

My body was hot with it, the heat burning through me. I screamed, even as I mentally continued the mantra, letting the power that had bonded with me years earlier fill my being.

And then, with a roar, I pulled at the vines holding me, letting the power fuel my efforts.

For all that, I managed to tear one hand free.

It doesn't sound like much. But it was more than I'd been able to do before, and enough to give me hope. I kept at the mantra as I thrashed about, trying to wriggle loose. My shoulders moved, and then my other hand. A tearing sound carried to my muffled ears as I ripped one leg loose from the vines. I jerked back and forth, until I was sitting up slightly, pulling enough of the thick foliage free to see what was going on around me.

The others were still standing, although the battle was taking its toll. Argondian was indeed wounded, but had somehow managed to subdue Martin again. With the Revenant wizard down, the more experienced wizard had then turned his attention toward helping Nelson, who was in a desperate fight with Peña. I could just make out Moretti as he was bowled over by the Hound, and managed to get his steel arm up into the gaping maw of the beast that had tried to dip its head into his chest. The smoking paws of the Hound tore at Moretti's chest, flaying open his skin.

And I saw Anya, a whirlwind of black shadow and white leather as she tore through the thralls with a fierce argent light shining from her eyes.

I craned my neck, tearing more vines as I strained to focus on her. My heart skipped a beat as I saw her swing a sword at a thrall, but she had reversed the blade, and was striking with the blunt edge.

The blade might not be cutting the hypnotized Chians, but the blows were crippling. Anya was fighting with inhuman strength and speed, which meant the poor mortals didn't stand a chance. I saw one glancing blow send a woman flying back through the air, and a backhand may or may not have broken a man's neck as he crumpled to the ground.

My friend was on the edge of letting the monster take control.

"Anya!" I shouted, even as I felt the vines working their way over me again. What progress I made was quickly fading as Penny redoubled her concentration on me. The only good thing was that keeping me down had taken all of her concentration, which meant the others were being actively harassed by the vines.

I felt myself tugged back toward the ground, and I fought to keep that power flowing through me, giving me the strength resist the magical flora that was stronger and more durable than it had any right to be.

If Anya heard me, she didn't let it show. I saw her rampage continue unabated. But someone else heard me, and I blinked in surprise as a small fiery form scrambled toward me. "Sal!"

The flaming amphibian tumbled through the vines and creepers, his sharp claws cutting through them like hot blades. His tail flicked back and forth, and I saw leaves curl and burn as it struck them. But the little guy was holding back on his power, having retained his smaller form as he leapt atop the vines restraining me.

He hopped excitedly on my chest even as the vines started pulling me back down. I blinked at his gaping mouth, which seemed to be smiling around the two objects he'd recovered.

One bone-white ring, and one silver steel ring.

"Hell yeah!" I shouted, before nodding toward my right hand. The vines made the movement restricted, but he seemed to get the idea. "Fingers! Fingers!"

Sal scrambled that way as the leafy ropes encircled my wrist again. I tried turning my hand toward him, and I saw him fumble to slide the silver ring onto my right ring finger. It slipped on, and then he started working on the bone-white ring, aiming for my middle finger.

A creeper slithered out with alarming speed, grabbing the little guy. I heard him trill in surprise, and the ring slipped from his grasp. My eyes widened as it twirled atop my finger, and I curled the digit to try and get it to slide on.

The thing seemed to take its sweet ass time, but it finally looped onto the first joint of the finger.

And as soon as it was on, Sal burst into flames as he cut loose.

The little amphibian grew a thousand times larger in just over a second, quickly assuming his doberman size as fire rippled around him. The creepers and vines burned as he started thrashing about, destroying the vines that held me. They didn't burst into flames; they were too green for that. But they were damaged enough to help me work myself free.

With the bone-white ring on my finger, I was once again safe from fire and flame. I didn't spare Sal's attack a second thought, and instead focused on the silver ring. The ring that was bonded to my primary weapon, having been forged along with it.

" _Pel-forma!_ " I hissed, using what strength I had left from my meditations to wrench my right arm up. My words activated the spell, and I held my palm open expectantly. I could almost feel the power of the spell thrum through me as the ring called out to my spear, calling it from where it lay.

I heard a _THUMP_ as something tore through one of the vine-covered windows of the three-story building. I managed to turn my head enough to see two feet of steel spin through the night. The air reverberated as it came, and then it slapped into my palm with a solid _THUNK_.

As soon as my fingers closed on the that familiar steel, a spell hissed from between my lips. " _Anda-ehtë!"_

With the command, the two foot rod extended into a four foot spear. Twelve inches of blade shot from one end even as the pommeled end expanded outward. For the first time ever, I thought I could feel the magic as it funneled through me, the spell drawing the power to the spear.

I let the spear slide a little bit down my grasp, until something leathery banged against my hand. Not paying it any mind for the moment, I swung the pommel end out and away, striking the ground as I hissed out another spell. " _Rigil-mendë!_ "

The pommel nearly burst into flames as the spell ignited, and a swirling circle of flame shot out across the ground. It wrapped around me, the angle of the spear dictating its diameter. A two foot wall of fire shot up as the ring completed, enclosing me in a willed circle that burned through the vines and turf.

And as soon as the circle closed, the vines around me grew limp, cut off from Penny by my will.

I rose in a flash, the foliage now nothing more than a mild hindrance. I tore it from my body as I looked out toward the building, where the flora mage stared mutely back. Sal tore through the remnants around us, causing more to catch fire as the heat he generated quickly dried out the vines. As he growled beside me with his shoulders hunched, my fingers worked sightlessly at the thick band that he'd secured to the rod with two beaded bracelets. One string of black iron marbles went over each wrist, and then came the spell-laden leather bracelet over my right.

When they were in place, I held the spear out to my side.

"Fire beats flora," I growled as I activated one last spell with nothing more than a thought. I stared across the way at the Revenant girl, and even through the slack gaze, I thought I saw her take a step back as the spearhead burst into flame. It was red-hot in an instant, and a swirl of scarlet light arced through the air as I spun the spear around, bracing it for battle, even as I resumed my mantra, feeling the power flow through me.

"Flame on!" I shouted as I lurched forward, for the first time in a day feeling like myself. Feeling like maybe I could be more than a burden to those with me. Feeling like maybe I could survive this, and do what I'd set out to do.

I ran forward, my doubt and worry burned away by the power at my disposal, and the battle began.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

I kept my eyes on Penny as I ran, trusting that Sal would warn me of any other threats.

We quickly passed out of the ring I'd burned, me leading the way to break the barrier, and the foliage was ready and waiting. As soon as we were clear, the salamander ran ahead of me, looking almost like a comet of flame as he ran through the vines. A trail was left open for me, and I felt the power flowing through me as I went. I might not have been the Flash, but I was moving faster than normal.

When we were halfway to the building, a motion to one side drew Sal's attention. I spared a glance, and saw that Martin was breaking free of the spells Argondian had used on him. Another black marble necklace had been secured around his throat, which should have kept him unconscious. But that didn't seem to mean much to the Revenant wizard, as I watched the bead crumble and fall apart.

Sal broke off, turning toward him. Following his lead, I slid to a stop, but didn't slow down. My left hand moved in a flash, ripping first one snap tab from the leather bracelet, and then another. They were both gone in a flash, the spells following one after the other. " _Naur-luth! Lith-luth!_ "

Up on the roof of the building, I saw Penny cross her arms in a warding gesture. Her copper wand and twisted wood staff were both in hand, and I saw the vines on the building around her start to rise up to shield her from what I'd thrown. Which I'd figured she'd do, which is why I'd thrown two spells rather than one.

The first ignited on impact with the wall of foliage, the fire spell exploding into an swirling inferno that engulfed the vines. As thick as they were, the spell was spent quickly, but the fires had burned hot enough to turn the flora to ash all around it. A bare spot appeared on the building beneath where Penny stood.

Vines had risen up in front of her, to the point that I could barely make her out. Had the second spell been aimed at her, it never would have made it.

Thankfully, it wasn't.

The brown crystal of the earth tab smacked into the stone wall beneath Penny's feet. When the spell ignited, the stone that had stood for two centuries or more was reduced to a fine grit. I could barely make out Penny's form as the roof beneath her was caught in the spell, and she fell into the building.

I could only hope I'd incapacitated the girl without any lasting damage. But before I could check on her, I turned toward Martin, who was rising with his staff in hand.

The wizard thrust his right arm forward, and the rings on his fingers glinted as a now-familiar thick band of yellow light shot out. He hadn't been aiming for me, but at Sal, who was several steps ahead of me. The salamander saw the strike coming, and rolled to one side while shrinking in size, letting the beam pass him by. He rolled twice before coming up in a crouch, his wedged jaw open in a toothy snarl as he quickly assumed his larger form again.

With his first spell spent, Martin raised his staff in defense as I reached him. My own weapon slashed down against his, the metals clashing together and shedding yellow sparks that arced through the air.

As soon as I was close enough, the same disorienting spell I'd felt before hit me. I swung my spear again, only to see the slower and clumsier wizard deflect the strike away. It was as if he'd worked spells into the weapon. One that aided him while hindering anyone that attacked. I wouldn't call them luck spells; instead, it was more like they muddled my thoughts while sharpening his own.

Whatever they were, I got the distinct impression they were worked into the steel staff. I'd seen the engraved runes in them briefly before, and as we dueled back and forth, I caught glimpses of them glowing with a golden light every time our weapons crossed.

"Alright, smart guy," I growled as I pivoted, taking up a two-handed form. "Let's see how well that weapon of yours is made."

Rather than resorting to stabbing attacks and broad swings that had been deflected, I changed my strategy to that of a slashing attack. As I brought the spearhead around, Martin raised his own staff to defend. But I checked my swing as I went, drawing back enough to allow the red-hot steel of the spearhead scrape against the steel of his weapon.

Yellow lightning crackled as amber sparks flew, and I saw the wizard's eyes widen in surprise. The emotion was quickly muted by the spell Salvago had cast over him, and the green in his eyes throbbed as his face slid back into a passive, slack state.

I wondered at that, even as I felt a certain satisfaction in seeing the deep score my blade had cut into his staff.

Power snapped and sparked from the gash, which had cut through one of the enchanted symbols. Whoever had made his weapon, it was certainly powerful, but it wasn't a warden's weapon. It wasn't even a knock-off like Moretti's, or based on Kenku tempering techniques like mine.

At the end of the day, it was just an enhanced metal staff. One that my own tempered and enchanted blade could slice to ribbons.

Three more slashing passes connected, each scoring more cuts into the staff. The wizard realized the danger as yellow lightning started to crackle along the length of it. It looked like some damage had already been taken during his fight with Anya's borrowed blade earlier, and now mine was close to finishing the job.

He brought his right hand up to send another bolt at me, but he didn't see Sal in time. The doberman-sized fire elemental flew at him, his teeth snapping down on the wizard's arm before he could unleash the blast. I saw his face twist in pain, a silent scream mimed by wide-stretched lips.

I felt bad for him, but the wound wasn't fatal. So while he was falling to his knees, I swung down with the spearhead, chopping at his staff.

The blow whistled as it went, the power running through me adding more to the strike than I'd ever managed before. The red-hot blade sheared clear through the staff, and then it was my turn to look surprised as power exploded from the broken weapon.

I was thrown back several feet as a pulse of energy washed out. It stung, but as I rolled back to my feet, I could tell Martin himself had taken the worst of it. The power had coursed along the part of the staff he'd been holding, and his body was still shaking as small sparks of citrine light rippled across him.

Sal had released him in time, so the power hadn't been conducted to him. He was a few feet away as well, and I saw his tail swish as he glowered at the downed wizard.

But despite having already escaped being subdued twice, something told me Martin was out for the count this time. Electrical burns sizzled several places across his hand and face, and he was completely slack as he lay across the vines we'd danced around.

"At least he's breathing," I said to Sal, who gave a barked response that may or may not have been sympathetic to the Revenant wizard's state. "Let's check on Penny."

I ran for the building, but Sal took one look at the other battles in the square, and ended up running toward Argondian. The older wizard had been left alone to face Peña when Nelson had gone to help Moretti with the Hound. I glanced toward Anya, who had single-handedly worked her way through almost all of the thralls. She'd dropped her swords at some point, and was now just laying into the Chians with her fists. It was slightly better than using the swords, but not by much. Not with her blood-lust up and her strength all but unchecked.

I dashed into the building where Penny had been, and spotted her sitting midst the rubble from the roof. Most of the structure had remained standing after my sandstone spell, but enough had fallen to partially bury the girl. She'd been working at uncovering herself while simultaneously healing some wounds she'd taken. I watched as a gash in her forehead sealed up before my eyes as the leaves on the twisted wood staff grew and wilted in a flash.

"Sorry about this," I said with genuine regret. She looked up at the sound of my voice, her emerald eyes still slightly glazed over from the fall. My right hook snapped her head back, and the girl collapsed across the rubble.

"Sorry, sorry," I reiterated to the unconscious girl as I fished a beaded necklace from one of my pockets. I knelt beside her to tie it around her throat, and I thought I saw her sag with relief once it was in place. "I'll let you hit me later to make up for it," I assured her as I tried propping her head up into a more comfortable position.

Once I was sure she was out, I grabbed her copper wand and staff and headed back outside, tossing them aside as I looked over the others. Nelson was down, and it appeared that his left arm was out of its socket by the way it dangled limply. Maybe the Hound had done it, although for all I knew, Moretti had hit him with a back-swing of that steel arm of his.

The surly wizard was holding his own again with the Hound, a second wind allowing him to pursue the beast on open ground now that Penny's vines weren't constantly reaching out to snag at his ankles. I figured he'd hold up for the moment, and sprinted toward Argondian and Sal.

The wild-haired wizard was down, with Sal standing guard over him. Peña stood in a crouch a pace away, his warden sword pointing at the fire elemental. A bloody wound ran along Sal's right flank, no doubt from the steel of the sword biting at his supernatural flesh. Thankfully it looked shallow, and my friend was up and itching for a fight.

Seeing that his odds would change when I arrived, Peña stomped his foot forward, as if preparing to charge. But rather than moving, the earth mage unleashed a spell that sent the ground beneath Sal surging up. He wobbled as he fell off-balance, and then the warden was flashing forward, his sword straight out to cut through Sal's heart.

I felt no sympathy for him as my throw rocketed my spear toward him, the weapon humming through the air to impale Peña in the chest.

The impact rocked the wizard back, and the attack on Sal fell short. The salamander rolled away before coming to a stop in a crouch, growling at the wizard that was now on his back.

" _Pel-forma_ ," I whispered, holding my right hand out. The summoning spell drew the red-hot blade from the warden's chest, snapping it through the air until it returned to my palm. I continued to stalk toward the fallen man, my face grim as I watched him struggle to rise.

"He's not finished," Argondian gasped from the ground. I spared him a glance, and saw that he'd taken a vicious wound to one leg. The wizard had torn away the fabric of his lime green pants, and blue paint had been dribbled over the wound. It seemed to have sealed it shut, and more markings had been hastily finger-painted around it, perhaps to begin the healing process. "Mortal wounds have had no effect on him," the wizard said as I strode past.

I looked to the warden, who was covered in lacerations that would have left anyone else dead from blood-loss. Argondian's whip had even taken Peña's left arm off at the elbow. No blood spilled from the wound; instead, a clotted mass had formed on the stump. I saw the rest of the arm a dozen feet away, still grasping the gnarled wooden staff.

Peña was trying to rise as I reached him, his smoking green eyes staring up at me without any sign of pain or fear or hate. Like the others, he felt nothing save for the ghost of emotion in the shock of the moment. Like the others, the still and deathly stare was all that remained of what had once been a good man.

His mouth worked silently as my spear swung. Whether he was trying to unleash a death curse or not, I couldn't know. The burning spearhead decapitated him before he could finish, and I felt nothing but a cold regret as I watched him slump to the ground.

I stared at him for a moment, before turning back toward Moretti. The sounds of his struggle had faded after my spear had been thrown, and I saw that he was standing alone, looking up at the roof the three-story building. My gaze followed his, and I saw the outline of Salvago as he looked down. There was a flicker, and then the shorter form of the Hound stood beside him.

A long moment passed, as the Lich realized the last of his Revenant wizards been defeated. And then he began to turn away, conceding the field.

"No!" Moretti shouted, his energy surprising even me. He took off toward the building, and I started that way myself. But rather than heading for the door, like a sane person, Moretti ended his run in a crouch, before jumping straight up. The earth around him cracked as he pushed down with pure kinetic force, and the steel-armed wizard shot three stories up to the top of the roof.

"Fuck that," I gasped as I ran for the door. I'd stopped my unconscious mantra at some point, and a deep fatigue had quickly replaced the energy I'd felt. It seemed I was at the limits of what my meditation could do, and my legs were heavy as I ran toward the ancient and broken stairs that led up.

It felt like an eternity passed as I went, climbing the stairs two at a time, much to the protest of my aching body. When I reached the third floor, I couldn't say I was pleased to find no stairwell leading up to the roof. The only access was a collapsed section of the ceiling, which revealed the stars overhead. The rubble had piled up enough to give me an unsteady ramp to take up.

I stumbled as I reached the roof, and I used it as an excuse to catch my breath as I looked over the scene before me.

Salvago stood in the middle of the roof, his body turned toward Moretti. The Lich had turned in my direction upon my arrival, but was now facing the wizard. Tendrils of green smoke drifted out from his fingertips, and I could see where the mist trickled out across the roof. It tumbled over one side, and I wondered if the dark mage was still trying to control the zombies and thralls in the lower town; still trying to salvage something from his failed defense.

The Hound stood between them, seeming no worse for having fought for however long we'd been at it. Moretti was quite the opposite, his large and muscled chest heaving. His cloak and shirt were ruined, the jagged tears from the Hound's paws gaping open to reveal the horrid wounds he'd taken. But something in the wizard refused to give in to the pain; somehow he was blocking it out, determined to see the battle finished.

"Yannis Salvago," Moretti proclaimed breathlessly. "You are guilty of breaking the Laws of Magic. You have corrupted the minds of others; you have enthralled them against their will; you have profaned magic by using it to raise the dead." The warden lifted his sword to point at the accused. "You have killed with magic."

The warden paused, as if awaiting some response. Some admission of guilt, or declaration of regret.

Salvago was beyond that. Those were mortal concerns.

"Very well," Moretti finally said. "As a Warden of the White Council, I will execute the sentence deserving of such blasphemies against magic: death."

Perhaps I should have done something. Perhaps I should have reminded Moretti that he was nearly dead on his feet. Perhaps I should have pointed out that Salvago had done nothing during the battle but manipulate others.

In all honesty, I was just too damn distracted at the sight of Violet.

The girl I loved was crouched on the roof not far from the dark mage. Her robes were filthy, and the hood had fallen back from her head to reveal her wild and disheveled mulberry tresses. She'd looked up at my arrival, and my heart had stopped in my chest at her condition. Her skin was sallow and sunken, stretched tight across her bones. Her eyes were dark, the light that normally played in them all but gone. Her mouth hung open, sagging mutely as she stared without seeing.

Even her torch was muted. The lively flames I recalled seemed to burn limply atop it. The amethyst fog I'd seen tumbling from it in the graveyard was still pouring out, trailing over the side of the roof in the same direction as Salvago's green tendrils. The dark mage was still using its power to supplement his own, using its seemingly infinite wellspring to work his necromancy.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from her. I couldn't move, or speak, or do anything. All I could do was search those dead eyes for something familiar; some spark that would show me the girl I loved was still in there. Still fighting him, as she must have been when she'd saved me in that unknown town.

Because I was so distracted, I did nothing to help Moretti as he charged the dark mage. I barely noticed when Salvago simply flicked a wrist absently, his voice soft and almost gentle as he whispered, " _Kude_."

Whatever Moretti was expecting, it wasn't a wall of air that struck him like a freight train. I heard the wizard grunt in pained surprise as he was blasted off his feet, hurtling back through the air before disappearing over the side of the roof.

I knew from experience how far that drop was from the first floor, to say nothing of adding another twenty feet or so. And the steel-armed wizard didn't have a handy Revenant to break his fall.

I finally tore my gaze away from Violet to watch Moretti disappear, his eyes almost comically wide as he fell. I started to take a step toward him, but with another casual gesture, Salvago slammed me to the surface of the roof. I reached out, and discovered what felt like an invisible wall of air pinning me down. As I pushed against it, Salvago approached.

He came to a halt a few paces away, his dark eyes looking dully down at my prone form. I could see where his eyes had begun to marble over with pale cataracts. The wizard's condition had continued to deteriorate as time went on, with his flesh growing more spare by the hour. His skin was more like one of his zombies rather than something living. As he moved, I swore I could hear his muscles and tendons popping, as if he was actively resisting rigamortis.

And there was a nasty little hole in his throat where Q's bullet had taken him.

"We will take this one," the Lich exhaled softly, the rifle-powered tracheotomy whistling as he did.

And I realized with a start that he hadn't even been breathing; he'd only inhaled so that he'd have air to speak.

"Where are we going?" I asked as the wizard lifted a flattened hand. "I need to know what to pack."

As Salvago raised his hand, the wall of air shifted around me, lifting me rigidly off the ground. I tried moving, but found myself pinned within his power. My spear shifted in my grasp, and I tried to think of something that might break through his magics.

Ignoring my question, Salvago studied me with dead eyes. "You are more than you seem. There is a power within you that I did not sense before. You will be of use," he said, in that creepy way that only the un-breathing sociopathic undead with a hole in their throat can manage.

"I'm not really that interesting," I assured him. "Maybe you should have kept Moretti around."

Salvago waved a hand dismissively. "He is not worth the effort." He turned to start toward Violet, and my eyebrows rose as the air holding me pulled me along in his wake.

"I don't know," I said nervously as I resumed my struggles. "He's a lot more powerful than I am. I'm sure he'd make a great Revenant."

"Bonding with you will help me control her," the Lich replied coldly, his dull eyes looking down upon the kneeling Lampad. "Once I have learned the extent of my abilities, I may resume harvesting the Council."

At a gesture from him, Violet rose from her crouched position and walked to his side. The floating spear bobbed closer under Salvago's power, still pulsing with the beat that controlled whatever zombies that remained. I noted that the Hound started in our direction as well, and suddenly realized that we were leaving. Once we were close enough, Violet could take us into the Ways, and the others might never find us. Salvago would find someplace new, someplace the Council would never think to look, to become the best Lich that he could be. By the time they hunted him down, I might very well be dead.

Even worse, I might be dead and still standing.

"What if I'm not sure about signing on?" I asked quickly, my eyes darting about to find something that would break his spell. The only weapons I had were my spear and my bracelets; the former was pinned between the walls of air, and I couldn't reach the latter. "What's your benefits package like?"

Salvago just stared at me as he reached out to rest a hand on the Hound's head. His other hand began to reach for me as Violet rested a hand on his shoulder. Cold, hard fingers passed through the invisible wall to close upon one shoulder, gripping me tightly.

"Wait! _Wait_!" I shouted, growing desperate as I realized no-one was going to rescue me from the undead thing that wanted to eat part of my soul and replace it with his own.

 ** _Undead thing._**

I blinked in surprise at the voice in my head, and turned to look at Violet's torch.

I wasn't the only one.

"What is the meaning of this?" Salvago asked harshly, glaring at the bone-white shaft.

 ** _Undead thing,_** the torch echoed. The purple flames atop it flared brilliantly for an instant, and the Lich took a step back. His hand slid from my shoulder, and I sighed in relief.

"What is this?" the Lich repeated, clearly hearing the same thing I had. It seemed he'd been unaware that the torch had a mind of its own, based on the surprised frustration creeping into his normally laconic tone.

 ** _Undead thing._**

"I don't know," I said helpfully. "Maybe it's upset with the way you smell. You do kind of reek."

Salvago's face had been slipping back into its passive state, but my words brought another flare of anger. I recalled his rage from the night before, as he'd let his human emotions wash over his inhuman nature. The man's hand flicked toward me, and I slammed down into the roof with teeth-chattering force.

"Silence," Salvago snarled, before death took its tole on his emotions again.

I wasn't sure if he was talking to me or the torch. Neither did it.

 ** _Undead thing._**

"Looks like another dissatisfied employee," I said from the roof. Thankfully I'd managed to not stab myself with the spear. I was still pinned in the narrow gap between two walls of air; a glance over my shoulder confirmed that I was actually a few millimeters above the roof. "It's definitely not encouraging me to take you up on your offer."

"Control it," Salvago ordered, glaring at the Lampad.

"What's a matter, Yannis?" I goaded as I tried fighting against the spell holding me. "Not used to having your servants talk back to you?"

 ** _Undead thing. Un-living thing. Impure thing._**

"SILENCE!" the Lich raged, even as he stepped further away from the torch. The Hound trailed with him, shadowing his master. "You are mine! You will do as I say!"

"Doesn't seem like it," I observed as I managed to shift the spear around. I sub-vocalized the spell that triggered the heated spearhead, and tried pressing it against the invisible wall holding me down. The air popped and crackled as if something were burning, but the pressure remained in place.

"You are _mine_ to control!" Salvago screamed, his glazed eyes bulging. "You are _mine!_ "

"I wonder if that's what Peabody thought, too."

Salvago froze at my words, his eyes swiveling from the twisting amethyst light to stare wide-eyed at me.

"What did you say?" he gasped, his chest heaving. His breath was ragged, but at least he was breathing again. It seemed like he only bothered to do that when he grew impassioned enough to forget he was dead.

 ** _Undead thing. Less living than his Revenants. Less living than the plant mage._**

"Peabody," I said smartly as I realized the torch was talking to me. Now I just needed to figure out what it meant. "Oh, that's right. You hadn't heard. Peabody was revealed to be the traitor in the Council. The one who was spreading that corruption you talked about."

"Peabody," Salvago said breathlessly. "Peabody…"

 ** _Plants. Air. Vines. Air._**

"Oh," I said stupidly, blinking as I put two and two together. "Right, sorry. I'm new to this fighting wizards thing."

"Peabody," Salvago growled darkly as I twisted the spear in my grasp. "Deceiver." The walls of air holding me in place were firm to my front and back, but I found that I was able to move my arms to either side in the thin channel between the walls. "Betrayer!" Doing so allowed me to extend the end with the rounded pommel out as far as I could. " _Traitor!_ "

"Oh, like you're any better," I muttered as I got the spear into position. My words drew his attention back, and his cadaverous face twisted into outrage.

"I am no traitor," he rasped.

"Yeah, sure," I said as I rolled my eyes at him. "You've killed and enslaved how many of your brethren? How many of your fellow Chians? Betrayed your own laws of magic, and everything you once stood for. And for what? To stop the spread of this corruption?" My look turned hard. "Salvago, you're not stopping the corruption. You _are_ the corruption."

"No," the Lich breathed furiously, lifting his palm toward me.

"How many wizards are dead because of Peabody?" I asked, not really knowing the answer. "Has he killed more or less than you have in the last couple of days?"

"No!" screamed the thing that had once been a man. "I am saving them! I am saving them from the darkness within them!"

"Darkness doesn't end darkness," I replied coldly. "Only the light does that."

 ** _Light the Way._**

"NO!" Salvago screamed, rounding back and forth between the torch and I. "NO!"

My spear's pommel struck the ground as I sub-vocalized a spell. The same one that I'd used in the square below, to free myself from the vines. Flame erupted from the pommel to tear across the ground, arcing in a wide circle that extended out around me. The air rippled as the fire tore through the spells above and below.

Salvago realized what I was doing, and his hand flew forward, thrusting down. I felt the pressure around me build as he tried to crush me with his will. I gasped as my entire body clenched within the magical vise holding me.

And then the flames completed their passage, snapping together as the circle closed.

The pressure was gone in an instant. Like any inhuman creature, the Lich could not reach me within a circle empowered with my will. Like the enslaved Revenant he'd made of Lily, Salvago couldn't extend his power beyond the circle.

Perhaps if he were still mortal, still living, the dark wizard could have used his power against me. Maybe not. I wasn't hip to all of the wizards' secrets.

But it was no living thing I faced as I rose within the circle, wielding my spear. "You're blind to it, Salvago," I growled. "You've surrounded yourself with so much darkness that you can't see what you've become." I narrowed my gaze as I pointed the glowing spearhead at him.

"Let me enlighten you."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

When the last word passed my lips, a lot of things happened.

Enraged by the truth, the dark wizard threw his hands forward, unleashing a torrent of spells at my circle. Power raged against the the invisible wall protecting me; power that would have shredded me to pieces had it struck its intended target.

The fires that had burned the circle into place had dissipated, leaving a scorched ring in the roof of the ancient building. It was along the surface of that ring that Salvago's power exploded, whipping back and forth in a desperate attempt to get at me. The air itself shrieked as sharp winds slashed like blades, glinting in the light of the torch as the spells spent themselves. Howling gusts tore at the pale stone roof around me, cutting deep furrows into the surface, each of which could cut me in half just as surely as Peña's sword. Thunder cracked as he threw walls of power at me, seeking to crush me beneath his magical will.

But despite the raging tempest all around me, I stood untouched within the circle.

Sensing its master's rage, the Hound leapt into action, tearing across the roof toward me. I flinched as the massive beast sprung into the air, but I was careful not to move beyond the circle. When the Hound reached it, I saw the powerful thing's body hammer into the invisible barrier like a freight train. The air within the circle seemed to reverberate from the force of the blow, and I felt the roof tremble beneath me.

But as the beast worked its way around, slashing and biting at the circle, I realized that the Hound's power was helpless against the empowered barrier. It would hold.

Salvago realized that as well, and his spells slowly tapered off. I looked out at him, wishing I could track both him and the Hound behind me. As the man's rage fled, an eerie stillness settled over the Lich's face as his cold calculation replaced his emotion. The wizard had to know that neither he nor the Hound could break through the barrier.

Which is why he turned to his last resource. His gaze turned, focusing on the only other person within the circle. "Kill him," he ordered.

Shuttering, Violet turned to obey.

When Q and our swartalf friend had crafted the spells in it, they'd included the empowered will spell as a last-ditch defense for me against supernatural things. Rather than having to resort to drawing a circle like many practitioners did, or trying to create one with my mind alone, the spear would create one for me. The short wall of fire burned the ring into the ground, and my will traveled down the length of the spear to empower it. It was much faster, and certainly more reliable, than carrying around a piece of chalk.

Q was particularly proud of the fact that the spell was so versatile. Rather than simply burning a circle in a pre-set width, the diameter could be controlled by the positioning of the spear itself. How far the spear extended from me determined the radius of the ring it would create. If I held it close to me, the circle would remain small. If I held it at full length, I could enclose others with me.

If I concentrated, I could extend it out even further using my will alone, which I'd done on at least one other occasion. But there on the roof, with Salvago and the Hound only a few paces away, I'd had to carefully position the spear to enclose only myself and Violet.

I'd succeeded, but that also meant that she was free to attack me. She might not have access to her full power, but she wouldn't need it. I couldn't put up much of a fight against a being such as her.

Not that I planned to.

"Violet," I said softly as the Lampad turned toward me. She raised the arm bearing her torch, and the flames flickered violently as her gaze darkened. "Violet, you can fight him."

The dark-robed figure strode forward, quickly closing the distance between us. As she came, I backed away as much as I could while remaining in the circle. There wasn't much room to work with, and I felt the ancient — and now acutely sagging — roof shift beneath my feet as the Hound thundered against the circle. I could hear its growl rumbling in my chest as I turned about the small space.

"Violet, you have to listen," I urged her, longing for any sign of the woman I loved. Hoping that my words could reach her.

"Kill him," Salvago repeated coldly.

"Whatever happened to taking me with you?" I asked quickly over my shoulder as Violet snapped her wrist, the flames of the torch thinning and cracking like a whip. "I thought you wanted my help."

"She will come around."

"Do you really want to—" I began, but the whip snapping out to wrap around my neck drew my words short. I reached for the whip by reflex, discarding my spear as both hands clutched at the solid flame holding me.

The bone-white ring I wore on my right hand prevented me from burning, but it didn't help me resist the nearly decapitating wrench of the whip as Violet pulled me toward her.

"Ack!" I gurgled as I fumbled to my knees before her, pulling at the flames encircling my neck. "Violet, stop."

 ** _She is lost_** , the torch sounded in my head. **_Light the Way_**.

"I'm… trying…" I gasped as Violet reached one hand out to my neck. As her fingers closed on my throat, the fires from the torch fell away. My relief was short-lived as Violet lifted me one-handed into the air. My hands wrapped around her wrist, but I was careful to cup my fingers. I didn't want to hurt her, even as she swung me toward the edge of the empowered circle.

As a supernatural being, Violet herself couldn't break the protective barrier around us. In theory, she couldn't break it by throwing something through it, either. But if she threw me into it, that'd probably do the trick.

And even if it remained up, I'd be outside of it, and within the reach of the Hound.

"Violet," I said as she strode toward the edge. "Don't make me do this."

"Kill him. Or throw him out," the Lich rasped.

Her dull gaze was unresponsive as she moved forward. I wanted to see how much room we had left, but I couldn't turn my head. Not in her iron grip.

Knowing I was out of time, and out of options, I pressed my fingers against her wrist. The silver steel ring I wore on my right hand touched against her skin, and I smelt as much as heard her skin as it began to blister and burn.

Violet's face grew pained as I touched the iron-based steel to her flesh. She wasn't Fae, so the reaction wasn't quite as acute as it was for Sal or Q. But there was some commonality between her and the other denizens of the Never-never, and it was enough to injure her. Enough to cause her to release her grip on me even as she flung me from the circle.

" _Pel-forma!_ " I shouted as I began to pass through. The spear leapt to my hand at the command, and then I was twisting around in mid-air, swinging the pommel to the roof. " _Rigil-mendë!_ " I added as it struck, and willed another empowered circle into existence.

The flames shout out quickly, forming a much tighter ring than the last. As it closed, the Hound thudded into it, a mere foot from where I landed. Enraged, the Hound raked at the barrier with its paw, his burning nails leaving streaks of light in the air. It started to circle around me, only to crash into the barrier at its side as well. I saw it snarl in confusion, before twisting in place, unable to escape.

"Heh," I gasped. "I wasn't sure that would work."

By default, the spell was supposed to enclose me within the protective barrier. But Q had said it was directed by will, which is how I was able to make it larger when needed. That had come in handy years earlier when I'd enclosed most of a large room in a circle to protect myself and several others from demons summoned to kill us.

But I'd never actually tried reversing the spell. Instead of enclosing myself, I'd focused on the flames encircling the _Hound_.

To my delighted surprise, it had worked. And now the supernatural beast was trapped.

Of course, I was still left facing Violet and Salvago.

"Likhiphe!" Salvago rasped, flicking a hand towards me. As he did, a series of howling winds tore through the air at me, similar to what I'd seen thrash against the previous barrier.

I rolled to one side, carefully avoiding the circle I'd just willed around the Hound. The roof burst under the force of the blast, and I saw it begin to crumble away in places. I kept rolling until I was on one knee, and then I was forced to leap to avoid another blast.

I felt the tail end of the spell tear at one of my borrowed boots. Had I been wearing my usual Balaur leather boots, I probably would have been fine. But they'd taken those away on my first visit to Anavatos, so I'd been given a loaner pair back in Chios Town.

The off-the-rack boots shredded beneath the force of the winds, and a burning sensation confirmed that I'd taken some damage. I rolled to a stop and glanced at my ankle, only to see a little blood pooling around my foot.

I looked up at Salvago, who was poised to unleash another blast. But I'd managed to position myself behind Violet. He seemed reluctant to harm her in the cross-fire, which I was grateful for on multiple levels. Taking the split second of protection I'd gained, I started in on my mantra, and felt power flow through me as I tapped into the wellspring provided by the apple-seed.

I could feel my foot and ankle preparing itself as the circle Nelson had drawn on my stomach worked its magic. But my respite was over just as it began, as Salvago started to step to one side. I forced myself into a standing position and began to swing the spear's pommel down again, hoping to shield myself.

Salvago saw it coming, and changed tactics in the blink of an eye. His fingers curled as he rotated one wrist, and I found myself flung through the air as he hissed, _"_ _Lingabuyela!_ "

A whirlwind erupted beneath me, and I spun about as it hurled me across the roof. I lost my grip on my staff as I went, and it crashed to the ground a good ten feet away. _So_ that's _what that feels like_ , I thought to myself, having used a whirlwind spell snap on an opponent or two over the years.

" _Kude_ ," Salvago snapped as I regained my balance, and a powerful gust of wind hit the spear to send it over the edge of the roof just as I extended a hand toward it and shouted, " _Pel-forma!_ "

I slid into a crouched position as I did, but didn't look toward the spear. Instead, my left hand reached for my snap bracelet. I tore a small metal disk free, one capped with a ruby red crystal, and I flung it at the Lich with blinding speed. " _Naur-luth!_ "

The fire snap crashed into an invisible wall of air a few feet short of the dark mage. A fireball erupted against it, swirling along the surface of the dome he'd created. I considered what other spells I had at my disposal, but quickly realized that none of them were going to penetrate his defensive barrier.

I turned to focus on my spear as I realized that I'd need to get my own version of a shield in place before Salvago attacked. But my eyes widened in surprise when I spotted the spear hovering in space a few feet away, vibrating softly against an invisible wall between us.

It seemed Salvago was much too proficient with making those damn walls of air. I turned to him, and saw the last remnants of smoke and fire swirl away from his shield as he flicked a wrist at me.

Once again I was sent flying, this time by a spell similar to that which had sent Moretti off the roof. I too hurtled out into the night, and unfortunately it wasn't in the direction of the town or lower buildings.

Instead, I tumbled out over the stark cliffs of Anavatos, falling helplessly toward a gruesome death.

The world blurred into spinning shadows as I fell. The light from Violet's torch disappeared all too quickly, and then there was nothing to see by. Nothing to show me the jagged outcroppings that would bring about my demise.

Nothing shone in the dark, save for two burning cinders of crimson that flew at me on silent shadowed wings.

I gasped as the Keres crashed into me, her arms of dark marble wrapping around chest. We twisted in something that resembled a controlled maneuver, spinning together as she snapped her wings out to either side. The blunt and harsh winds that tore at the mountainside caught beneath the glassy appendages. I felt a wrenching in my chest as gravity took one last stab at hurtling me into the rocks, and then we were soaring up.

"Nice catch!" I shouted into the wind. Crimson eyes turned toward me as floated upward, the steady beat of her wings the only answer to my comment. I couldn't be sure it was the same Keres that had saved me before, and then carried me to the mountaintop. But it looked like her.

I noted that she'd taken some wounds somewhere along the way. Several obsidian feathers were missing from where Katya had hit her earlier, and some gouges had been carved into her stony face and arms. None of the injuries seemed to have slowed her down though, as she let loose with a pleased screech.

As we went higher, I saw Violet's light re-appear on the distant roof. The Keres had carried me away from the building, far from Salvago's sight. I could barely make out the Lich as he studied my spear, which he'd retrieved once the spell drawing it to me had failed. I saw him turn, and start toward the still-pinned Hound that had all but set fire to the roof in its frustration.

"We need to stop him!" I informed the Keres. "Can you take me back—"

My words cut off as three more Keres appeared in the distance, flying low over the roof. They didn't grow too close to Salvago, for fear that he'd be able to seize them like he had Violet and the Hound. Instead, they flew just close enough to unleash their payloads.

A surprising relief flooded through me as Salvago found himself under siege by Sal, Anya, and a surprisingly not dead Moretti.

"Hey, you guys caught him, too!" I observed, but then I was screaming as my Keres shot toward the roof at breath-taking speed.

I braced myself just as we reached the building, and managed to roll as the Keres released me. A fierce and piercing cry erupted as she soared up into the clouds again, leaving me alone with the other combatants.

Anya and Moretti were working together against Salvago, who had discarded my spear in favor of his own. Summoning it on the wind, he bore it in one hand and his warden's sword in the other, fending off the attacks from the other two.

Moretti was all but dead on his feet, and Anya fought with what inner strength she had remaining after taking on nearly a hundred thralls and zombies by hand. Both fought with a cold determination, but neither was in well enough shape to face Salvago alone. Together they had him on his heels, and the night air was filled with the sounds of furious battle.

Thankful for the distraction, I ran for Violet, who stood idly by while the Lich fought for his un-life. I wondered if that meant she was resisting all but the most direct of commands, or if there was nothing left of her to think for herself.

Hoping it was the former, I approached somewhat cautiously. After all, the last command Salvago had given was to kill me.

"Violet," I whispered, daring to seize her by the shoulders and wrench her around. She moved laconically, and her eyes were unfocused as I held her head up towards mine. "Violet, please. Please."

I wasn't sure what to say. Now that I was there, and had her in my arms, I wasn't sure what to do. How could I get through to her? If the others could defeat Salvago, perhaps she'd be free of his control.

But from what the wizards had said about Liches, it was a safe bet it wouldn't be quite that easy. After all, you had to destroy all of the horcruxes before you could destroy the dark wizard. Assuming those books were anywhere close to accurate.

What I needed was a way to draw out the piece of Salvago that he'd placed into her.

How was I supposed to do that?

 ** _Light the Way_** , the voice sounded in my head. **_Shepherd the souls_**.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked the seemingly inanimate object in Violet's grasp. I assumed it was being vague so that Salvago didn't figure out what it was talking about, but I was a little too slow to do so myself.

The flames danced atop the torch, and I got the impression the thing was frustrated with me. **_The Torchbearer commands the souls._**

"Just tell me!" I growled in reply, even as an explosive sound behind me drew my eyes away. When I turned, I saw the remnants of the roof where the Hound had been trapped. The thing had burned away the stone beneath it, and disappeared into the building.

Which meant it was free from the circle.

"Shit!" I shouted as the roof nearby exploded in smoke and flame. From the depths of the building the Hound emerged, its dark muscles rippling across its skin as it sought out its master. When he saw the steel-armed wizard, the beast disappeared into a dark blur as it tore across the roof, making a b-line for Moretti.

As fast as it moved, it wasn't fast enough. A fiery red comet met it halfway across the roof, and a Salamander the size of a grizzly bear left a streak of light in its wake as it slammed into the Hound.

"Sal?" I said, somewhat stupefied. I blinked as I saw the familiar — but much larger than normal — form of my friend rocket battle with the dark beast. The red-eyed Hound had turned at Sal's approach, and I saw the two tumble across the roof in a ferocious fight to the death, snapping and tearing at each other with tooth and claw.

And suddenly I understood what he'd been whispering in Rose's ear.

The little bugger had made a deal for power.

 ** _Torchbearer_** , the voice continued, trying to draw my attention back.

"Right," I said dumbly, still watching as Sal stood seemingly on equal footing with the Hound that had tossed him aside like a rag doll a mere day ago.

 ** _Soulbearer_** , the torch said, and I swear I could hear it grinding its non-existent teeth at me.

"Okay, okay, I get it," I said, tearing my eyes away from the wizards and beasts. "A Lampad can remove souls. So a Lampad could remove the piece of Salvago from Violet. But they won't get anywhere near him," I added as I looked to where Salvago fought with two feet standing in open air. I blinked, understanding on some level that it wasn't flight or levitation. That it was just him standing on one of those same walls of air that had held me above the roof earlier.

But I'll be damned if it didn't look like the man was disobeying the laws of physics as he unleashed hurricane winds at the other two. Moretti held his ground by sinking his steel fist into the roof, while Anya slid a few feet before copying the steel-armed wizard. She drove a sword into the roof and leaned into the gale-force winds like a dancing gangster in the Smooth Criminal video.

I unconsciously grabbed at Violet's arms as the wind buffeted me even from over a dozen feet away. The fires from the torch whipped in the winds, but the fuel that kept the flames alive were stronger than anything the Lich could extinguish.

 ** _Torchbearer_** , the thing repeated, and this time flicked a trail of fire towards me. Despite years of possessing the bone-white ring, I flinched as the flames trailed over me. But neither pain nor heat registered as it came and went, and I finally realized what the torch was telling me.

"You mean me," I said mutely. "You mean if I take you up… I could cure her…"

 ** _Light the Way_**.

"But… but I can't," I replied, a slight desperation creeping into my voice. "I can't. The last time I held you…"

The last time I'd held Violet's torch, the thing had nearly driven me mad. It had already sent another poor soul into a tailspin of insanity, and when I'd taken it from him, I'd started down that same road. Bearing the torch of a Lampad was too much power for a mortal.

Only Sigrun Gard's timely intervention had separated me from the torch before I could try and burn Chicago to the ground. And if it hadn't been for Violet using her power on me, in gratitude for returning her lost torch to her, I _still_ would have ended up in the loony bin.

 ** _Different_** , the torch said insistently. **_That was the hateful box_**.

"I remember," I assured it.

And I did. Whomever had stolen the torch from Violet in ages past had stored it in a magically crafted box. To hear Q and Gard tell it, the box had been an efficient torture chamber, twisting the lantern into something unnatural. Something dark and furious, driving the torch to its own sort of madness.

What purpose they could have had in mind, I could only guess at. Having seen what Salvago had used it for, I worried what a _real_ necromancer might have done with direct access to the torch. What spirits and dead things they might have called up, with its power so attuned to hate and pain.

 ** _Different_** , the torch repeated.

"Alright," I said, even as part of the roof collapsed in the far corner. Moretti disappeared with it, leaving Anya alone against Salvago. "Alright, tell me what I have to do."

 ** _Torchbearer_** , the voice repeated. **_Light the Way_**.

"Remind me to sit you down with the Rosetta Stone program when all this is over," I mumbled as I reached for the torch.

The torch gave me its version of a disgruntled **_harrumph_**.

"NO!" Salvago screamed as he realized what was happening. " _Kill him!_ "

Violet's eyes sparked with a misty emerald light as the Lich's control reasserted itself. I shouted in surprised as the torch was wrenched away from my grasp. I reached for it again, but Violet struck at me with her free hand, and sent me crashing to the roof with her strength.

Dazed, I managed to look up as she stepped toward me, the torch lifted as if she intended to smash it against my skull. Her face was twisted, a cascade of fear and hate and regret washing over her, fighting through the power Salvago had over her. She trembled as she fought him, her arm shaking helplessly as her mind was torn apart by the two thoughts fighting within her.

One voice telling her to kill me. One voice pleading not to.

She crashed to her knees beside me, her body spasming as if in a seizure. Her lips were pursed tightly as tears escaped her pained eyes. I saw a familiar flash of amaranthine light spark within the emerald haze.

" _Woody_ _…_ " she whispered harshly.

"Violet, I'm here," I said quickly as I rose to my knees. I reached out for her. "Violet, you can do it. You can fight him."

She cried out as if in pain as her eyes flared green, and the torch came around to plunge at me. The tip struck my chest, and amethyst fire washed over me.

Fire that burned.

"Violet!" I screamed as the flames licked at my exposed throat. The ring I wore should have kept me safe from them, but I knew from experience that Violet could burn me herself. She'd done so once before, when my reason had almost been overridden by White Court vampire venom. She'd burned me through the ring itself, if only to clear my head.

And now it seemed she was using her torch against me, and the ring I wore did nothing to stop the flames.

The Balaur leather was the only thing that prevented me from dying in that first moment. I could feel the flame lick at me, and had I been wearing conventional clothing, I'm sure it would have gone up. But the leather just smoked, and the duct tape holding it together began to disintegrate, as the Lampad I loved tried to kill me.

Despite the command given, I could tell she was still fighting. She was still in there, desperately resisting Salvago's orders. But she couldn't stop them outright. And neither could the torch. The flames atop it almost seemed to peel back, as if trying to avoid me. But it was a slave to its bearer, and could only do so much.

I suppose I could have tried escaping. Could have tried running from the flames. But that would mean leaving Violet. Giving up on her, and us. Letting Salvago have her.

That was something I wasn't willing to do.

"Violet," I managed through gritted teeth one last time as flames tore up across one side of my face, searing me. I reached for her, pulling her toward me as my hair caught fire. The torch pressed between us, and the purple flames of the Lampad roared up and over me as I brought her face to mine, pressing one last kiss to her lips.

She shuddered against me as I burned.

And then the flames spread across every inch of my body.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

As the Greek fires washed over me, I was glad that my last act had been to kiss the girl I loved.

Sure, I was disappointed that I was dying and all. And yes, I was ashamed that I'd failed to save her. Ashamed that my failure would doom her to an eternal life of slavery to the Lich.

But all things considered, getting one last chance to express your love for someone isn't the worst way to go, even if its midst a fiery pyre.

Only, you know. I didn't die.

I kissed her for all it was worth, knowing the fires would burn my nerve endings in moments. I wanted the last thing I felt to be her lips.

The strange thing was, as the fires spread across me, they didn't burn.

In fact, they did the exact opposite.

I gasped as I broke our kiss. Fire still rippled across my skin from the torch pressed between us. But like it had once before, Violet's power worked at healing the burns her torch had inflicted. I could feel the ruined skin across my neck and face mend as her will demanded it to, undoing what she had wrought.

My eyes found hers as, with her last act, she made me whole.

And then the spark in her eyes went out, and she collapsed into my arms.

"Violet!" I screamed, shaking her. She didn't respond, and I grew desperate as I fear the worst. "VIOLET!"

Take me up, the torch said in my mind.

"Shut up!" I shouted at it as tears broke out from my eyes. "Violet!"

 ** _She lives, fool_** , the torch insisted.

I gasped again, this time looking for any sign of life in her. The torch was right. After a moment, I saw the gentle rise and fall of her chest.

She was alive.

 ** _But not for long. You_** **must** ** _take me up_**.

"But what will happen to her?" I asked, scared and confused. I recalled the last time she'd lost her torch. She'd grown old and withered without it. And if I took it from her now, could she survive?

 ** _Yes_** , the torch said. **_But only if you_** **Act. Quickly.**

I nodded, catching my breath as I held Violet up. I would do whatever was needed to save her. Even if it meant taking up the power of the madness inducing torch.

Flexing my fingers, I reached for it. Forcing myself not to hesitate, I grasped it firmly. As I did, my eyes snapped open, and a surprised gasp slipped through my gaping mouth as power surged into me, as light poured into every cell of my body…

I inhaled, drawing one last breath—

— And exhaled my first breath as a god.

 ** _No_** , a voice sounded in my head. **_Still mortal. Still human._**

 ** _…_** ** _for now._**

Which was a silly thing to say. Of _course_ I was a god. A demi-god at the least, with the power I felt coursing through me. It made the power of the apple-seed pale in comparison.

 ** _Apple-seed?_** the voice questioned. **_What apple-seed?_**

 _Never-mind that_ , I thought as I looked at the world with amethyst eyes.

It looked much the same now that I was a god — **_Not a god!_** — save for the odd hues. Everything was lavender and lilac, mauve and mulberry, periwinkle and plum. Everything, from the darkest shadows to the brightest lights, were all just shades of purple and violet.

I looked to Violet, and felt a pang at the sight of her. She looked exhausted and emaciated; even more so after relinquishing the torch to me. She was limp in my arms, although perhaps she looked more restful now. Here eyes had fluttered as I took the torch, and a spark of amaranthine had flashed again.

Perhaps there had been a trace of emerald remaining within them, but it was so hard to tell when you saw the world in such a narrow spectrum of the rainbow.

 ** _Concentrate_** , the voice sounded. **_Shepherd the soul._**

 _Of course_ , I thought. Because I knew how to do that. It was second nature to me, seeing as I was now a —

— **_not!_**

 _Oh, alright_ , I thought with a frown as I dipped the torch toward Violet. I held her with one arm as the amethyst flames rippled toward her, _through_ her, as I held the lantern close. The girl I loved spasmed, and I saw her eyes open wide as a dark light cut through her. No, not light. It was the opposite of light. If darkness could shine, that was what I saw.

It held no hue other than black. I could feel it as the torchlight wrapped tenderly around it, embracing the darkness within her. Once the fire had taken hold of that darkness, I pulled the torch back, and the flames with it. The darkness disappeared into the blaze atop the bone-white torch, and Violet went limp in my arms.

I laid her gently down upon the roof of the building, although it didn't seem like it would be standing for much longer. The ancients had made their structure to last, but not even modern engineering could resist the destructive power of wizards. I wondered if maybe I should try to move Violet away. Could I do things like that, now that I was a god? Could I whisk her away to the Never-never, take her to the Ways? Could I travel the ways? Would it make commuting easier?

 ** _Such a simple mind._**

 _Bite me_ , I thought smartly. But she'd be fine where she was. Now that Salvago's soul had been removed from her, she'd be okay.

 ** _Hound_** , the voice warned.

 _Yes, yes, I know_ , I thought with another frown. _I_ _'_ _ll get to_ —

The Hound slammed into me, and I gasped at how much it hurt. I didn't think gods — **_not!_** — were supposed to hurt. Maybe the torch was right — **_of course_** — after all.

I twisted with the blow, and the massive dog-like beast rolled across me. When it landed, it skidded across the roof, its smoking claws digging in to slow it down. Its eyes burned with a fierce swirl of emerald and ruby light that cut through the amethyst world with their intensity. I saw the thing's lips peel back in a ferocious snarl as its muscles bunched. Then it flickered, moving so fast that to mere mortals — **_like you_** — it would seem as if it were disappearing.

But if I wasn't a god, I wasn't quite mortal, either. My free hand shot up as the Hound reached me, and I seized it by the throat in mid-air. It seemed almost surprised by my strength and speed as I held it before me.

I wasn't. I recalled bearing the torch before, feeling all of that power. I recalled the strength the other poor soul had possessed as I'd fought him in the tunnels beneath Chicago. What had his name been? — **_Myron Pierce_** — ah, that's right. He'd been strong then, and quick; now that speed and strength was mine.

But as powerful as I might be, apparently I wasn't invincible. The position I held the Hound kept his teeth at bay, but his burning nails were slashing and ripping at my chest. I felt the pain as each swipe tore at my Balaur leather jacket. Even with its durability keeping me from shredding me open, I knew I'd be covered in deep bruises from the force of the blows.

 ** _Quickly!_** the torch said, but I was already moving, thrusting the bone-white lantern at the Hound. Its flames wavered against its dark flesh, the power of the beast resisting the power within me. At least its limbs stopped trying to tear me to shreds, and a battle of wills began as the Hound tried to cling to the piece of soul it had been given.

I broke out into a sweat as I held the torch to the Hound, feeling the creature spasm in my grip as the torch fought to draw the soul out. The Hound resumed its thrashing, a high swipe catching me across one cheek, and I may have screamed out into the amethyst world as the flames finally sank into the beast.

The same thing played out for the Hound as it had Violet. A dark light… Anti-light? Is that a thing? — **_NO_** — Well, the darkness was shrouded within the light of the torch, and slowly drawn out of the Hound. As it passed into the torch, the massive beast finally ceased its struggles, and I released my grip on it.

I might have been slightly less gentle with it than I had with Violet. But seeing as it'd broken my ribs in our first encounter, and possibly again in our final struggle, I thought that was fair.

 _Should we find the others?_ I thought as I turned about. _Does Salvago need to be last?_

 ** _The Lampades guide them_** , the torch replied. **_Take the mage now If you can._**

 _Wait, if I can?_ I thought, but then I was turning as a woeful cry echoed across the mountains. It was a sad sound, a wail of loss unlike anything I'd heard before. When I looked toward him, I found Salvago leaning on his spear. It was the only thing keeping him upright, and it looked as if someone had gutted him.

And perhaps I had. There was no gaping wound to explain his state, and the others had all been beaten back. But I'd just torn his soul from two of his… not horcruxes… what had the wizards called them? Pterodactyl? — **_phylactery_** — Right. I'd just torn his soul from two of the philyacteries — **_close enough_** — that kept him alive.

I glanced toward the others, and was surprised to see Moretti down. Either Salvago or the Hound had finally managed to slow down the wizard by tearing the dark metal limb from his body. The steel arm lay on the rooftop a few feet away from Moretti. It looked like it had been disconnected from the ball joint that attached it to his shoulder, which also capped in black steel.

With his arm missing, the wizard had been vulnerable, and someone had taken advantage. More bloody rends, either from spear or nail, had appeared in his gray cloak. Moretti still had his warden sword, but he could barely prop himself up, much less continue the fight.

Anya and Sal had apparently gone to his aide, as both had taken up a defensive stance between him and Salvago. Sal was still massive, and I noticed that in a world purples and violets, the flames licking across his body were still scarlet and cardinal. He looked to be in decent shape, although I noticed a few new wounds gouged into his thick hide.

I looked over Anya just as she glanced my way, and was startled to see the bright white pinpoints that were her argent eyes. Her skin glowed with a pearly light as she drew on her power to sustain herself. She'd taken a beating, and I saw the opalescent smear that was her blood as it soaked over her white leathers. Simon's black coat was undamaged at least, but it oddly shadowed around her, to the point that I found looking at it oddly uncomfortable. I forced myself to look away, and trained my sight on the Lich.

Salvago was just recovering when I started toward him, but there was enough strength left within him to send a wall of air at me. His dull eyes were defiant as rasped out the words to his enchantment. I saw his hand raise as he spit out a spell, and I braced myself for what was coming.

In my amethyst hued world, I found that I could see the spell take shape. Tendrils of plum energy snaked through the air, seeming to draw it together into a dense form. It was mostly transparent, but I could make out the shape as it hurtled toward me, a battering ram that would knock me clear off the roof.

The lavender flames whipped out from the torch, cutting up through the spell as it came. The energies holding the air mage's will became torn and frayed beneath the greater power of the Lampad's torch. Gusts blew to either side of where I stood, but I remained untouched.

"No," Salvago hissed, his dead eyes narrowing as he saw the power I now wielded against him. "No," he repeated as he threw one hand up again, even as he gestured behind him with the other.

Another wall of air appeared before us, this one stationary and still. It was a barrier separating us from the wizard, who was busy tearing reality apart at the seams with his other hand. The air rippled as a slit appeared, a dark and unmoving rend forming and growing nearly six feet in length.

 ** _Now!_** the torch seemed to scream in my head, even as the fire whipped out ahead of me to tear through the wall. It shattered as I ran forward, as did a second that Salvago had formed behind it. The whip tore through the third and final barrier just as the dark mage disappeared into the dark doorway he'd created.

Acting on impulse, I flung the torch forward, as if I were wielding a true whip. The thin tendril of amethyst flames snapped out and shot through the rend in reality. I could almost feel the torch's satisfaction as the fiery braid coiled around the wizard, and then I was wrenching it back toward me.

Salvago screamed in outrage as he was pulled back onto the rooftop, his spear turning to point at me as he focused a spell in retaliation. I didn't hear the words from the spell, but I knew what it was a second later. A familiar breathlessness washed over me as a sphere of air formed around my head, drawing the oxygen from my lungs just as it had in that nameless town the night before.

My free hand reached for my neck, and rebounded off the barrier. A panic quickly set in, as I knew the wizard wouldn't spare me like he had last time. No longer was my continued existence useful to him; he wouldn't release the spell until I was good and dead.

But as helpless as I might have been against the wizard, the torch was anything but.

 ** _Fire burns air_** , the torch seemed to growl as flames erupted toward me. The fire washed over the barrier, swirling around it in a fury that the mage's spell could not resist. The casting broke beneath it, and air surged back into my lungs as my vision cleared.

" ** _Your time of judgment is long past due, Yannis Salvago_** ," I said, even though it didn't feel like me talking. " ** _The Three Judges will decide your fate. Pray that they are merciful, and condemn you to only a millennia of suffering for each of your blasphemies_**."

"No, _no!_ " Salvago screamed, his dead eyes coming alive one last time as the tendril of flames pulled him across the roof. He slashed at the flaming whip with his warden's sword, and I saw lilac sparks fly as the enchanted blade bit at it. "I am not yet done! I must cleanse the world of this darkness!"

" ** _There will be no darkness where you travel_** ," the torch said through me. Three more tendrils of flame grew from the torch, each one wrapping about a different limb. The bands of fire tightened across his wrists, and the wizard screamed as he lost hold of his weapons. " ** _The flames of eternal torment will purify that which you so throughly defiled_**." I wasn't sure what that meant, but it sounded bad.

I watched on as the four strands of living fire lifted the man from the ground, holding his arms and legs out as it righted him. A crazed fear shone in the wizard's eyes, and I flinched at seeing any humanity in that inhuman face.

"No!" he screamed again, and then his gaze focused on me as he prepared another spell. An emerald light began to shine within those dull eyes. I felt a pressure building in my temples, and blinked in pain as it began to spread to my chest.

I'd only just realized that Salvago was preparing to turn me into one of his philadelphias — **_phylactery_** — when a fifth whip of fire shot out from the torch and slashed across the dark wizard's face. The man screamed as his eyes were torn from his skull, leaving only a bubbling and smoking ruin in the empty sockets.

And then I was plunging the torch into his chest, allowing the flames to consume the Lich. Salvago thrashed furiously as the fires drew out the last remnants of what had once been a human soul. The flames coiled around the darkness within him, ensnaring every last trace there was from the corpse it inhabited.

But it didn't do it quickly.

"Noooo!" the thing that had been Salvago screamed as the fire not only retrieved his soul, but burned the husk it resided in. The dry and brittle skin erupted into flames, which was quickly followed by the emaciated muscles and organs of his body. The agonized wail died off as his lungs were consumed, and I had to turn away.

The man had done horrible things, but I'm not sure even he deserved such a gruesome end.

Finally, the torch drew the last of his soul from the body. What was left suspended between the fiery tendrils was thrown to the rooftop. The little that remained smoked as tiny flames worked through it, and the ashes of the once great air mage drifted on the winds of Chios.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Turning from the smoking corpse, I quickly checked on the condition of the others. Sal appeared at my side in a flash, reduced to his doberman-sized form. He was in good shape, having squared off with the Hound on even terms until it had suddenly turned to me, no doubt under Salvago's orders to stop me after I'd taken Violet from his grasp.

I could still clearly make out the crimson flames rolling across Sal's body, and knew that not all of the power that had been gifted to him had been consumed. He trilled happily as he looked me over, clearly glad to see that I too was still in one piece.

"Looks like you healed up nicely," I said to him as he spun in a circle. He barked an affirmative, and I wondered just how much of the viney square he'd consumed to hasten his recovery.

I looked across the roof, and spotted Anya helping Moretti to his feet. Once he was upright, the punky vampire held out her hand, and I saw that she'd recovered the steel arm that Salvago had separated from the dour wizard's shoulder.

Moretti took the proffered arm, and gave Anya a crisp nod of thanks. Perhaps there was a smidgen of respect in it as well, although I'm sure the wizard would deny it if asked.

Seeing that they were on their feet, I summoned my spear to me with little more than a thought, and then collapsed it back down to its smallest form. With one hand still full with the torch, I handed the rod to Anya when she arrived, so that I could lift Violet up from the roof. She took it, and yelped when I handed it to her. I gave her a funny look, and she quickly turned away.

"How is she?" Moretti asked gruffly, distracting me. The Lampad hadn't done much in the fight, and had been unresponsive ever since I took the torch from her.

"She'll be fine," I said, even if I wasn't sure.

 ** _She will be fine_** , the torch echoed. ** _In time._**

As I knelt to cradle her, the bone-white shaft disappeared in a flash of amethyst light. At first I'd thought it might have returned to her, but I realized that the world was still hued in purple.

 ** _It is not yet time_** , the torch informed me, its voice louder in my head now that it was non-corporeal. Maybe it was in some other dimension between me and the Never-never, or maybe it had merged with me on some level. **_Nothing so simple_** , it said, before trailing off unhelpfully.

As I stood, the roof shifted precariously, and I shared a startled glance with the others. "Maybe we should get down from here?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Anya said anxiously. She looked around, clearly uneasy with the state of the roof. One hand was shoved into a pocket of Simon's coat while the other held the rod, nervously fiddling with it.

She led the way, and Moretti and I trailed after her, with Sal bringing up the rear. The formerly steel-armed wizard cradled his detached limb almost as carefully as I carried Violet, and despite my exhaustion and worry, I felt a soft smile creep onto my lips at his dejected look. But at least he was mobile.

The five of us headed down through the building, which was growing less and less sturdy by the minute. I thought for sure we were going to end up rushing out of the place with a smoky debris chasing us out, but the place was still standing as we made our way back out into the small courtyard.

"Wow, you really did do a number on that foliage," I said to Sal, noting a charred circle of vines where I'd last seen him.

The salamander gave me a cheerful bark, and then sauntered back over, as if to finish what he'd left. The rest of us continued on, where we found Nelson and Argondian sitting beside the prone form of Penny. The bald wizard had apparently popped his arm back into place, but was still favoring it. The older wizard was favoring his wounded leg, but didn't look any worse than when I'd left him.

Argondian lifted one of the Penny's eyelids back, and I saw that her gaze was unfocused.

"She still out?" I asked as I lay Violet down beside her.

"Yes," Nelson confirmed. "Rose already came by and undid whatever Yannis had done. We removed the sleeping charm, but she still hasn't woken up." He sounded a little worried about that, but Argondian looked up, his face set with determined confidence.

"She will be fine, in time," he said, eerily echoing what the torch had said of Violet. "She has an inner strength that will aide her in recovery." He cast a look at me as he spoke, but I wasn't sure what it meant.

I looked up as Rose approached, the Lampad looking none the worse for having fought a battle against an undead and enthralled army. "The other is cleansed," she said softly as she joined us, her eyes on Violet.

"Thank you," Nelson said, inclining his head. "Serge, would you mind—" he began, before noticing that the other wizard's left arm was slung over his right shoulder. "Oh."

"I'll help," Anya said, her voice distant as she looked over toward where the wizard Martin lay. She and Nelson rose and started over, and I noted that the bald wizard weaved back and forth as he went. No doubt he was focusing his magics on recovering, but he'd taken a beating, and it would be a while yet before he was at a hundred percent.

"What about Peña?" I asked, not bothering to look toward what remained of the earth mage.

"I have cleansed his remains," Rose replied as she knelt beside her sister. I saw her lay both hands to either side of my girlfriend's head, and Rose closed her eyes as she sensed for something.

A frown creased her brow, and she finally looked up to me. "Where is her—"

Her words died as she looked into my eyes.

"Hades save us," she gasped, shooting to her feet. "What have you done?!"

"Uh… nothing…" I said nervously, taking a step back.

"You are… you are bearing her torch!" Rose snapped, her tone somewhere between shocked and outraged.

"I'm not _bearing_ it," I said, shrugging defensively. "I mean, I just kind of borrowed it…"

 ** _Torchbrother!_** a voice said excitedly, and somehow I knew it wasn't Violet's torch, but Rose's. The punny one.

 ** _No_** , Violet's torch replied.

 ** _Is he a male nymph, now?_**

 ** _No,_** Violet's torch said with some slight frustration. **_No such thing_**.

 ** _Is he a satyr, then? He doesn_** ** _'t look like a satyr_** , Rose's torch said doubtfully.

"If they keep this up, I'm going to need to name them to keep things straight," I told Rose, who still looked upset.

 ** _You can call me_** ** _… Erythrós_** , Rose's torch said with a pleased tone. **_That one you can call_** ** _… Mov._**

 ** _No,_** Violet's torch said quickly. ** _Not Mov._**

"You have taken him as your bearer?" Rose asked, clearly ignoring the exchange.

 ** _No_** , Mov — **_not Mov_** — repeated. **_It was necessary. Temporary_**.

"But… such a thing has never been done," Rose argued.

 ** _Necessary_** , Violet's torch insisted. **_F_** ** _ëanáro is… compatible._**

"That's not my name," I said automatically.

I'd named my spear Fëanáro, after a character from the world of Tolkien. Violet loved it, and had started calling me that on occasion. Apparently her torch had picked up on the nickname.

The carmine haired Lampad gave a heavy sigh, before finally nodding. "Very well. Return to my sister."

 ** _Not yet_** , Not-Mov said. ** _Shepherd the soul._**

Rose nodded in understanding, and then lifted a hand. There was a flash of light, and Erythrós appeared, its fires burning ruby red as it seemed to almost wave at me. **_F_** ** _ëanáro!_** it said enthusiastically.

"No," I said tiredly.

 ** _It is annoying_** , Not-Mov said. Perhaps it was referring to having an annoying nickname, or perhaps it was referring to Erythrós itself. Either seemed applicable.

"Bear the torch," Rose said. Anya and Nelson were just returning as she did, and the two glanced over as they laid the still unconscious Martin down beside Violet.

I lifted my arm and thought about the torch, and along with the thought came the object. Nelson and Argondian both blinked in surprise, and looked to Moretti, who shrugged his good shoulder. "Don't look at me."

Holding the torch aloft, I watched as Rose lifted hers to it. The red and purple flames mingled and merged, and I thought I saw something dark pass between them. It was gone in an instant, and I knew instinctively that Not-Mov had passed the pieces of Salvago on to Erythrós.

With the task done, we both lowered our torches, and the flames separated. I looked at Not-Mov, wondering what to do with it now that our job was done.

 ** _Very well,_** Not-Mov said. **_Not-Mov is just as bad as Mov._** **_You may call me_** ** _… Porfyró_**.

 ** _Porfyr_** ** _ó!_** Erythrós said excitedly, seeming to enjoy the naming ceremony. Porfyró just kind of sighed.

"What does that…" I began, until thinking of it not as a name but as a word allowed Rose's power to translate it. "Wait, that's just Greek for purple!" I glanced at Erythrós, which Rose was looking at intently. "And your name just means red!"

 ** _Erythr_** ** _ós!_** Erythrós echoed as it waved happily, until Rose's stern voice cut through the night. " _Stop_." At the word, the fires settled, and Rose looked to me with confusion. "It is not all here."

"What?" I asked. "You mean Salvago?"

"Yes," Rose said tersely. "A portion of his soul is missing." She looked to the roof. "Retrieve him. Retrieve the Hound."

Before I could ask who she was talking to, a series of avian cries erupted from the buildings around us. I looked about, and realized that several Keres had settled upon the roofs. The flicker of shadowed wings and crimson eyes marked their location as they took to the air, soaring to the top of the building where we'd left Salvago and the Hound.

"What's happening?" Nelson asked softly as the wizards all watched the commotion.

"Nothing good," I replied as the first Keres returned, carrying the limp form of the Hound in its grasp.

She placed it gently on the ground, and Rose quickly strode to it, lowering Erythrós to its prone and dark body. After a moment, the Lampad looked up, her brow furrowed. "Not here…"

Another Keres arrived, although this one was empty handed. She cried out in that odd language of theirs, and Rose disappeared in a flash. After a moment, I spotted the faint glow from her torch atop the building. I looked to the Keres, wondering what it had said.

 ** _The body is gone,_** Porfyró translated.

 _The body?_ I thought, rather than saying it aloud. _You mean Salvago?_

 ** _Yes_** , Porfyró confirmed.

 _No way. There was no way he was getting up_ , I insisted.

"Woody, what's going on?" Anya asked, sounding worried. I looked to her, and noted that she and the wizards were tensely looking at the Keres, all of which were in a clamor.

"Part of Salvago's soul is still missing," I informed them. "And apparently his body is gone."

"Impossible," Moretti growled. "I saw what you did to him."

Rose's light disappeared from above, and almost in the same instant, she appeared at my side. "Where is the other mágos?"

"Which one?" I asked. "You already took care of these guys," I said, gesturing to the still unconscious wizards. "There was nothing left of Somboon."

"No," Rose bit out. "The other one. The markswoman."

I blinked, and then turned to the Keres. "I don't know. They attacked her, and I didn't see or hear anything more out of her…"

A Keres started to reply, but was cut off when another flew down and stepped forward. I recognized my Keres from her wounds, and I listened while she spoke to Rose.

 ** _She says the mage escaped their blades_** , Porfyró explained. **_She must have gone into the Ways, and then taken the body when we left it._**

"But why?" I asked, even as I saw Rose blink out of sight. "She wasn't enthralled like the others. She didn't have a piece of his soul."

The Keres responded to my words, tapping a clawed finger to her chest. **_She says the mage was not corrupted, but the stone she bore was._**

"The stone—" I began, until my blood ran cold as I recalled the previous night.

Although she'd first spotted me through the scope of her rifle, I'd first laid eyes on Katya there in Anavatos. Unlike the other wizards serving Salvago, she'd been able to speak, which had surprised me at the time. It was how I'd first realized she wasn't a Revenant; that she was working with him of her own volition. She didn't have a piece of his soul within her, twisting her to his will while silencing her voice.

But I recalled the stone I'd seen slung around her neck. A stone unlike the communication stones the other wizards wore. A stone that looked like it might have come from Anavatos itself.

" _Fuck_ ," I said as I slapped my free hand to my forehead, running it through my hair as I realized what the Keres was saying. "We missed a horcrux!"

"What?" Argondian and Moretti said simultaneously.

"You said objects could be pterodactyls, right?" I said. Porfyró might have sighed in exasperation, but it didn't correct me.

"Yes," Argondian said with a nod. "They always are. Except for this insanity," he added, gesturing around us.

"Well, it looks like Salvago made a regular pterodactyl as well. Using a stone, which he gave to Katya."

"We must find it," Argondian said quickly. He tried to shuffle toward the large building, but his leg wasn't up for it. Moretti looked like he wanted to go, but the older wizard ordered him down. Nelson departed for the building, with Anya going with him to show the bald wizard where Salvago had fallen.

"It's gone," I said with a shake of my head. "Katya had it around her neck. And it looks like she took off with Salvago's remains when we weren't looking." I sighed, feeling exhaustion roll over me as I realized the implications. I hung my head as I realized what it meant.

It meant that we'd failed.

* * *

Apparently when wizards opened pathways to the Never-never, they typically connected to a specific place that was magically associated with that point on earth. Argondian didn't get into the details with me, but it meant that they might be able to find a trail.

Alas, it wasn't to be. Despite spending an hour searching for any clues, the collective wizards couldn't turn up anything. Katya eluded our search, and our victory tasted like ashes.

"I knew it was too easy," Moretti grumbled, which made me cast a disbelieving look in his direction.

"You call that easy?"

"Easier than if Katya had taken the field," Moretti countered.

"The Keres went for her," I said softly, hoping to not offend any of the creatures that may or may not be around. It was hard to tell, considering how well they blended into shadows. And there were still many shadows lingering in Anavatos. "It didn't even cross my mind that she could escape from them."

"We should have accounted for her," Moretti said softly. After a moment, he shook his head tiredly. "It doesn't matter now. He's dead and all but gone. I doubt anyone short of Kemmler himself could bring Salvago back with the little that remains. The wardens will eventually catch up with her, and then it will be finished."

I managed to keep from laughing. Things were never as easy as that. Especially with a warden like Katya, someone that would know all of their tricks. It'd taken a full manhunt to find that Morgan person. And that had been before the Council had gone on lockdown, afraid that their members might be susceptible to outside influence.

It seemed more likely that the Keres would end things once and for all. If the dark valkyries were going to hunt for Katya, to seek vengeance for her actions as well as shepherd the last of Salvago's soul, then there'd be no escape for either of them.

But the nature of the supernatural world is hard to understand, as are the rules. As angry as Rose and the Keres had been that Katya had escaped, they hadn't disappeared into the Ways to track her down. I would have thought they'd have dragged the woman back kicking and screaming, but instead they'd remained, overseeing the fate of the undead and the thralls.

"Thank you for your assistance," Moretti said, cutting through my musings. He glanced toward me, and then toward the distant form of Anya. "You and your… allies, were of great help."

"Sure," I said with a shrug of a shoulder. "Any time."

"I'm surprised you're not feeding your… Anya," he said, holding back from whatever he might have said.

"I offered," I admitted. "But she's in a weird place right now."

The dour wizard gave me another glance, and then a knowing nod. "I think I understand."

With that, the wizard strode away, his steel arm wrapped up in his gray cloak and slung across his back. I watched him approach Anya, and saw her stiffen as he spoke to her. The two exchanged some words, and then the wizard departed, leaving a somewhat surprised looking Anya in his wake.

"Everything okay?" I asked as strolled up. Anya looked to me, and then away again.

"It's fine," she said. "I guess I won't kill him after all."

"Yeah, he's alright," I conceded. "Probably tastes like gristle and WD-40, anyway."

The White Court vampire snorted at that, the first sign of amusement I'd seen since the battle. "He's not my type," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"What about Simon?" I asked with a smile, giving her a nudge with my shoulder. She surprised me by flinching away. "I seem to recall him having a wager to settle up on."

Her response wasn't what I expected. "No," she said quickly, looking away. When I failed to respond, she eventually glanced back to me. "He lent me his coat. We're square."

"But I thought—" I began.

"Let it go, Woody," Anya snapped.

I blinked, surprised to see the argent flash in her eyes as she spoke. I guess she realized what I'd seen, because she suddenly turned on her heal and stalked off, both of Q's swords tied at her waist, the wizard's dark jacket folded over one arm. Part of me wanted to follow, but something told me I'd only make things worse.

Instead, I made my way over to Argondian and Nelson, who were speaking with Rose. The crimson-haired Lampad had only just returned, having left the cleanup to the Keres, Hounds, and the rest of her sisters.

At my approach, the two wizards broke off, leaving me alone with Rose. She turned to lead me toward the still prone form of Violet a few feet away.

"It is time to return her torch," Rose said.

"Okay," I replied.

A twist of my wrist was all it took to draw the torch from wherever it went. I looked it over, and wondered at the power in my grasp, before kneeling beside the woman I loved. Rose looked down at it, a slight frown still gracing her face. "Place it in her hand."

I did just that, and I could feel something pass between the two of us. My vision swam as the power left me. At the same time, I saw Violet's body swell as she inhaled deeply, and I wondered if I'd looked the same when I'd taken my first breath as a — **_not_** — god. I saw her settle after a moment, although her eyes did not open.

 ** _Thank you_** , Porfyró said as the voice departed along with the purple hues to the world. I found myself in a much darker place without the power of the torch. My eyes blinked as the shadows crept closer, and the night bore down on mortal senses.

"Any time," I said, sure that the torch could hear me even after I'd released it.

After a moment, the torch disappeared, leaving Violet alone on the vine-covered ground of the square. I studied her features, hoping to see some sign of improvement. Some indication that she'd be okay. But the only change was the hue of the light that played across her face. The light slowly shifted, the crimson of Rose's torch joined by the shades of the other sisters.

I looked up as four shrouded figures approached, each bearing their own torch. Shadows fell across much of their faces, but I knew they were both identical to and unlike the woman I loved. I stepped back as they surrounded Violet, and then each extended their torch out.

Fire flowed down from each, a waterfall of flame that reached out and tenderly wrapped around the prone form. They swirled, encircling her with their power, lifting her from the turf. She floated higher until she was nearly level with my chest.

"Is she…" I asked, my voice thickening.

"She will heal," Rose said softly. "In time." Her sanguine eyes were as gentle as I'd ever seen them as she nodded to me. "You must say your farewell."

I nodded, but couldn't think of the words. Couldn't think of anything that could be said, to encompass everything I felt in that moment. To express how heartbroken I was, to share how sorry I was for not rescuing her sooner. To tell her how I felt about her.

Instead, I leaned forward, and parted a gentle kiss upon her lips, hoping she would feel it. I whispered three words into her ear, hoping she would hear them. I prayed she'd be okay, hoping someone would listen.

And then she was gone, and with her, all of the light in the world.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

The dawn eventually broke, ending the longest night of my life.

While we had raided the mountaintop, the Lampads had seen to the enthralled Chians, removing the madness that had hypnotized them. The Hounds and the Keres had gone to work on the undead, until our final assault on Salvago had ended his hold over them. Some had remained mobile, but the vast majority had collapsed where they stood.

Once it was over, the Lampads had returned the Chians to their homes; or what was left of them, at any rate. Some awoke to burnt out husks, while others were simply deposited in the town squares, where others found them disoriented and lacking any recollection of what had transpired. Families were reunited, but not everyone had survived Salvago's assaults on the cities, and the fires that burned in the wake of his passage.

It fell to the Hounds and the Keres to restore the bodies of the dead to their restful slumber. By morning, there was little trace of any grave-robbing, and the reports of such from the days before were scoffed at as juvenile pranks. Such things were the last of mortal concerns, however, as everyone's efforts were focused on subduing the last of the wild fires and finding shelter for the displaced.

The world barely took notice of the wildfires that destroyed a good portion of the forests of Chios. Arson was suspected of starting the blaze, which had quickly spread thanks to winds and drought conditions brought on by a summer heat wave. Reports of crazed citizens attacking others were explained by the airborne fungal growth Kyveli had first described. Some had become deranged under exposure, while others experienced hallucinations that made them _think_ they were living in a zombie movie.

Thanks to the Shepherds of Hades, there were no bodies left strewn about the island, so there was no evidence supporting the wilder theories that floated about. Video footage was discredited as faked, and eventually went missing. I suspected the White Council to be behind that, but Nelson assured me later that they weren't. I was left wondering who was responsible along with everyone else.

* * *

Anya was the first to depart the island. After everyone returned to Chios Town, I'd offered her a chance to feed. She'd declined quickly, and went to her own room. Confused, I'd gone to get some much-needed shut-eye myself.

When I woke, the others informed me that my friend had left on a private flight first thing that morning.

"She didn't say goodbye," I said softly to Nelson after he broke the news to me.

"Word has it that the White Court was somehow involved in the hunt for Morgan," he informed me. "I don't know everything, but I've heard their headquarters in Chicago was attacked."

"Damn," I said with a shake of my head. "I hope she's not in trouble for leaving town."

I also hoped my friend was okay. She'd spent a lot of energy in the fight, but apparently hadn't fed from anyone. I knew I'd need to call on her when I got home. Something had happened to her that night in Anavatos. Something that was making her distance herself from me. Something that had her worried.

And I was afraid of what it might mean, for her battle with the monster inside.

* * *

Later that day, the wizards departed from the island as well. A fresh contingent arrived to oversee any lingering fallout from events, as well as investigate Anavatos for any traces of Salvago and Katya. Kyveli had greeted them, and she and her sisters put them to work. Those that I'd fought beside were set to depart on the boat that had delivered the fresh faces.

"Wizards, traveling by boat?" I said in disbelief.

"There's some concern that the Ramps heard about events, and are stalking the ways, looking for wounded prey," Simon explained from his wheelchair.

I blinked at him, his use of the term for the Red Court surprising me. He smiled, and offered me a bandaged fist to bump. "Don't worry, I'll help spread the word of your cause."

I carefully wrapped knuckles with him. I knew his hands were still beat up from the lightning strike, and I didn't want to aggravate his injuries. Word was that the wizard healers would get him in working condition in no time. "Thanks. It just seems disrespectful to call them 'Reds'."

"Oh, no, I think it demeans and belittles them more than their regular name. And disrespecting them is what it's about," Simon said with a grin. "Hopefully the entire supernatural community will be calling them Ramps before long."

"I'm sure," Nelson said as he walked up. "You're up."

"See you around, Woody," Simon said with a wave of a wrapped hand. I saw him wave his bandaged hands together, and some kinetic force started pushing his wheelchair down the dock. I laughed at the wizard while shaking my head. Wizards.

Vaccaro had already been wheeled out, much to the delight of Amy the Goth Wizard. The sober master had thanked me for helping. I wasn't sure, but I think his gratitude had more to do with encouraging him to spare Penny than stopping Salvago. His spunky apprentice gave me a conspiratorial wink as she pushed him by, and I knew the girl would be in touch.

After the fight in Anavatos, I'd recovered the rest of my things that the Lich and his people had taken. When Amy had spotted all of my magically crafted items, the enchantress had grown excited. She ended up hunting Q down and making him promise to teach her some of his tricks. And despite the goblin's grumbled replies, I knew he'd enjoy that. He was an enchanter at heart, even if the passion came wrapped up in deadly ninja death skills.

"I have some arrangements to see to," Nelson said soberly as we watched Simon wheel himself onto the boat. "But I'll give you a call when I can."

"Sure, no hurry," I assured him. Knowing that some of those arrangements included seeing to his former apprentice, I figured it'd be a while before the monk wizard got in touch.

"Here's the one," he said as he passed me a notebook. I took it, and opened it to see a copy of the drawing he'd drawn on my stomach. The one that allowed me to tap into the power of the seed and fuel not only my healing, but my body as well. "Be careful with that. You don't want to mess up the pattern, or you might turn yourself inside out."

"Oh," I said, startled. I didn't realize he was joking until a wane smile broke across his face. "Right. Thanks."

"I'll provide the others when I can," he said with a nod. "With your unique situation, I can't guarantee they'll do you any good, but we'll see."

I nodded. "Take care, Nelson."

The wizard gave me a wave farewell, and then made his way toward the ramp. Following him up were the gurneys with Penny and Martin. Both were still unconscious, and a shiver ran through me as I looked at them. They reminded me of Violet, and I worried if any of them would ever truly recover.

"Do not worry for her," Argondian said from behind me. I turned to find him waiting, allowing the others to take his apprentice aboard. "That one has a little something extra within her."

He'd found another eclectic suit somewhere, this one a long-tailed dress coat the color of tapioca over a ruby red shirt and black slacks. It was almost normal, save for the rhinestones on the jacket and the frills of the tuxedo shirt. Something told me the wizard wasn't so much trying to express his sense of fashion as much as not conforming to norms. But at least he still had his floppy artist hat.

"Still no word about Stenguard?" I asked. The old wizard just shook his head. There was still no confirmation that he'd died in the blast, and some of the wizards arriving were supposed to search for him as well.

"What about Martin?" I asked, knowing Anya would want to know. I hadn't even met the guy before he'd been taken by Salvago, and the only thing I knew about him was that his magics hurt. I felt bad that most of his bandages were because of me, but the deepest wound was Salvago's.

"I cannot say," Argondian said. "It is no small thing to have your mind and will broken by another. But others have recovered from such things in the past. Perhaps he will as well."

"But Penny…" I said, trailing off in confusion. "You think she will when he might not?"

Argondian studied me for a moment, his thick gray eyebrows twitching thoughtfully. "Penny's ancestry is… different," he finally said cautiously. "You recall we spoke of something similar before?"

I looked to where they were pushing the girl's gurney up the ramp. "She's a changeling?" I asked softly.

The old wizard gave a soft grunt. "There are many names for many things," he said cryptically. "Perhaps she is such one creature; perhaps she is something else." His eyes focused on me. "What would you call a changeling that chose humanity?"

"A human," I replied, although I wasn't as sure about that as I would have been a few moments earlier.

"Perhaps," he said thoughtfully. "And perhaps, even having made such a decision, a certain potential remains within such a creature."

"You mean she can change her mind?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

"Hardly," Argondian said. "I speak of magical theory. Perhaps the girl herself is unaware of her potential; perhaps she has yet to choose."

The last word echoed on the wind, and a chill ran through me.

"Regardless, even paths not taken remain etched into our life's journey," Argondian continued. "Links to what might have been. Links that might form a chain down the generations. Links that might lead others to those same paths not taken."

I had no idea what he was talking about now, but for some reason it had my heart racing. I found myself rubbing at the wound in my side, and for some reason thinking of bees.

"Perhaps that's a conversation for another day," the old wizard said lightly, and I found myself breathing easier. "I would like to keep in touch, if that's alright."

"Of course," I said as I shook his hand. "Turns out some of you wizards aren't so bad after all." The wizard smiled graciously at that. "Safe travels, Argondian."

"You as well, Mr. Hayes," he replied with a tip of his cap. With that, he started down the dock to the boat.

"Hey," I called out, suddenly remembering something. At the sound of my voice, the old wizard turned around. "How did you know my last name?"

The old wizard gave me a weighing look. "I asked the faeries, of course."

"The faeries?" I repeated, confused.

"Yes, they know almost everything about everything," he said.

"But I thought Penny couldn't reach any?" I asked, growing more confused. I was sure that's what the girl had said back when we were trying to find traces of where Salvago might have been.

"Ah, well, Penny was trying to reach the locals," Argondian said with a smile. "I know some that are a little… higher up."

"Oh," I said with a frown. "Should I be worried that they know my name?"

"Undoubtedly," he said, his smile widening. Sensing that his answer hadn't eased my fears, his grin softened. "Those I know are fond of the arts. Some purchase my own work, while others… others are still fans of the late Mr. Reuel."

Now I was really confused. "Wait, are you saying faeries knew my uncle? And they know of me because of him?"

Unfortunately, the old perverted wizard didn't seem to hear me. He'd caught sight of something pretty that sashayed past him, and his concentration broke. He sent one last hurried tip of his cap my way, and then he was gone, leaving me perplexed.

* * *

I was watching Sal enjoy a charred snack while I filled in Q on everything he missed, who listened with a frown. It took some time, but we had plenty of that to kill until nightfall.

We were situated in a small park outside of Chios Town. The area was abandoned due to the lingering smoke from the forest fires. It wasn't enough to bother Q, and smoke was no problem for me or the salamander.

Q was covered in bandages, to the point that he almost didn't need to bother with an illusion to look human. He did so all the same, just in case someone happened by to tell us to evacuate the area. But we were unmolested, and Sal did his best to single-handedly consume the remnants of the burnt-out Chios forest.

When I was done, the goblin studied me, his not-quite ruby eyes shadowed by his drooping brow.

"I don't like that they got away," he finally said.

"Neither do I," I agreed. "But a few of the wizards are going to keep in touch. They'll let us know what they find."

"Mmgh," Q grunted, sitting up on the bench. "Dangerous being tied up with wizards."

"They said they'd keep our names out of it as much as possible."

At that, Q gave me a doubtful look.

"No, really," I assured him. "Nelson said they'd be covering up events as it was. They don't want word spreading about Salvago's dip in the dark end of the pool while the Council is already in so much turmoil. From the way he and Vaccaro described it, the wardens will be sweeping this one under the rug."

"Yeah, right," Q rasped. "Seems more likely that they'll file a detailed report on this, and send a copy to their mid-west Regional Commander for review."

I frowned at that. "Don't jinx us, man."

Q just grunted again, but let me hope for the best.

"Besides, I need to stay in their good graces," I explained. "Nelson's going to help me with the spells, and I'm hoping to get more out of Argondian."

"About what?"

My grimace turned a little sour. "I'm not sure. Argondian seemed to be dropping hints, but I honestly don't know what he was getting at. He kept bringing up changelings, but I know I'm not one."

"Oh?" Q said, his voice gravelly.

"Yes," I said confidently. His tone sounded odd. "Unless you have some insight you want to share?"

Q looked away before taking a deep sigh. "Woody, it's time I told you the truth."

I turned to him, surprised. "What?"

The goblin continued looking away, and I was left staring at the wispy hair escaping the bandages around his face. "The truth. About your parents."

"What?" I asked, leaning back. "You're not about to tell me you're my father or something, are you?"

The goblin's head turned slowly, his ruby red eyes shining through his illusion as he fixed his gaze on me. "No," he said softly.

"I'm your mother."

I stared at him.

He stared back.

Sal chomped on burnt forest.

Our staring contest continued, until the goblin finally lost, and burst into bone-wracking laughter. He kept at it, even after it was clearly aggravating his injuries.

"Your…" he gasped. "Your face."

"Bite me," I grumbled, turning to watch Sal.

"Oh, that was funny," Q wheezed, gripping his side. The bell hadn't burned him there, but a chunk had landed heavily enough to break ribs. No doubt a deserving punishment for being an asshole.

I let him finish, and finally his laughs and whimpers trailed off. "I'm serious, though," I said. "He was getting at something."

"You're not a changeling," Q whispered through a tight grin. "I've smelled both of your parents. You're definitely a product of the two. Although what your mother sees in—"

"Watch it," I warned.

Q waved it off. "Either way, both of your parents are human."

"Then what did he mean?" I asked. I thought of links in a chain, spanning generations…

"I don't know," Q said softly, his voice sobering. "But regardless, I _will_ tell you one thing."

I turned back to him, and was surprised by how serious he looked. His gaze was elsewhere, and not necessarily on anything nearby.

"If you _are_ something, something that gets a choice in the matter," he said soberly. "Make sure you know what you're getting into. And make sure you know what your choice will cost."

I nodded, unsure of what to say. Or even if he wanted me to say anything. He didn't seem to expect a response, nor even an acknowledgment of his words.

It was the closest he'd ever come to sharing about his own choice. I knew he was different from other goblins, even having never met one. And I knew, in theory, that he likely had faced a choice somewhere along the line. A choice to become a goblin, or remain human.

And not for the first time, I wondered why he'd made the choice he had.

"When is she going to arrive?" Q eventually grumbled, clearly changing the subject.

"When the sun goes down," I replied, giving the answer he already knew.

"Maybe I'll just take a plane," the goblin said. "I don't think I'm up for a long walk."

"Hard to get the weapons through security," I replied. Anya had taken some of her own, but left Q's swords behind. Both of them, to my surprise. Another mystery for another day. "Rose said it would be faster going back. Something about time zones or something."

Q just snorted at that, while we watched the grizzly-sized Sal roar as he crashed into a twenty-foot tall tree. The charred flora toppled under his weight, and the massive salamander started tearing the bark from the trunk.

"Is she going to take back the power she gave him?" Q asked.

"Apparently not," I informed him, as Sal savaged the tree. "She said last night that it had merged with his own power, and taking it out again would be more hassle than it's worth." The grizzly salamander picked up the top of the burnt-out tree with his front claws, only to stomp on the trunk with a back leg. The tree snapped in two, and Sal started rolling with the half he held. "She's calling it payment for services rendered."

"And your own?"

"The translation power?" I asked. "She's letting me keep that. Said I'd need it for a while."

"No, not that," Q said. I glanced to him, and he nodded toward my right hand. "I meant that."

He was gesturing to the ring I wore. The one made from Violet's torch, which protected me from fire and flame. The one that was a simple sliver of bone-white marble. Or maybe marble-white bone. I couldn't be sure.

Either way, that's what it _used_ to be.

I looked down at the ring. The band had widened somewhat, increasing the overall size considerably. It still fit comfortably on my index finger, and the edges were still bone-white.

The flickering band of amethyst crystal encircling the center was new.

"She had nothing to do with that," I told him.

Q frowned. "But… if she didn't do it, and Violet is still unconscious…"

 ** _Me_** , a soft voice echoed in my head as light flickered along the crystal inset.

"Apparently no mortal has been chosen as a torchbearer before," I said as I waved the hand at him. "There are side-effects not even Rose could have guessed at."

"But you've bore it before," Q said. "Back in Undertown. And so did that other guy."

"No, not really," I told him. "We carried it, but the torch never really adopted us as torchbearers. The spells on the box that tortured it drove it mad, to the point that it lost its way. Had they not twisted it with magic, it never would have worked for us. It just would have driven _us_ mad until we got it home. Instead, it became crazed, trying to make us burn the city down."

"The torch? Adopted?" Q asked, looking at the ring in confusion. "You talk about it as if it had a mind of its own."

 ** _My mind. Mine_** , the soft voice echoed.

 _Yes, yes, I know,_ I told it.

"So are you working for Hades now?" Q inquired with a concerned look. "Will you be working nights, shepherding souls and all that?"

"No, I don't think so," I said. "It's more like a gift from the torch, I guess."

Q's gaze was flat. "Woody. Power is never free, nor freely given."

I shrugged. "I guess we'll see."

The goblin sighed, but let his concerns go for the moment. "So, what? Does it do something new?" Q asked. "Will it let you talk to Violet or something?"

"I don't know," I said honestly. "Neither does Rose. Neither does it."

"It?" Q repeated.

 ** _It_** , the soft voice echoed. **_It wants name_**.

 _In time_ , I assured it. _Names are important._

 ** _Yes_** _,_ the voice echoed. **_Important. But want name with more than one letter._** ** _'_** ** _Q' is stupid name._**

I laughed out loud, which drew a questioning look from he with the stupid name. _Will you be able to let me talk to Violet, or her torch?_ I thought.

 ** _Who is Violet?_** it echoed.

 _Porfyró's bearer_ , I reminded it.

 ** _It doesn_** ** _'_** ** _t know_** , it replied.

"Woody?" Q asked, drawing my attention back. "You alright?"

My attention drifted back to Sal, who was bringing another tree crashing down with his new-found power. I thought of the spell Nelson had given me, and the ones he'd promised. The power that came to me when I used that circle; the power to heal and to strengthen myself. And the power that might come from the ring on my finger. The ring that was more than it had been, and more than Rose thought I could bear.

Strength gained, but at a steep cost.

Friends injured. Friends hurt.

Love lost.

I thought of Rose, and what she'd said of Violet. " _She will heal. In time_."

"In time," I repeated softly. "I'll be alright in time."


	29. Credits & Notes

Many of the characters that appear in HELL BENT were created by members of the Jim Butcher Online Forum community. The characters were created long ago for RPG purposes, but the creators graciously allowed me to use them to fill the ranks of wizards needed for the story.

Website: JimButcherOnline

* * *

Credits (In the order in which they appeared)

Character & Creator

Sergio Moretti, by dragoonbuster

Simon Phane, by Quantus

Penelope "Penny" Satakieli, by Amelia Crane

Nelson, by Sibelis

Reon Argondian, by Jabberwocky

Katya Sideorenko, by Amelia Crane

Bassillo Vaccaro, by Taran

Amy Louise Clarke, by Ulfgeir

Martin Fors, by Cadd

Lane Stenguard, by Moireth

* * *

Notes:

Thanks to everyone who has read the series so far. There may be a hiatus until the next story, tentatively called SCORCH TRIALS, is finished. I've got a couple other projects I'm working on, including several other stories set in the Dresdenverse that don't star Hayes.

Feedback and constructive criticism is always welcome. If you find a grammatical or formatting error, please feel free to let me know, and I will correct them. If there is a plot issue or continuity error, please let me know, but I will most likely leave it alone. In HEART BURNS, it was observed that there were a couple issues with the plot and characterizations. Those were due to extensive editing of the plot after-the-fact, and some things slipped through my final reading. In the spirit of true publishing, I've left those issues alone, just as if they were in print. As much as I might want to tweak things, I've got to learn to live with what I produce, flawed as it may be.

Thanks again to everyone who has given me input and advise so far! I hope you enjoy!


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